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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: land · arm · toast · fork · straw · race · perch · wound

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. land — ground
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. race — the arms race
  6. land — a country
  7. wound — an injury
  8. fork — in a road
  9. wound — an injury
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. toast — bread
  15. land — to come down
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. race — humankind
  24. race — a contest

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com