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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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468
Word bank
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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: march · arm · track · degree · chair · perch · bank · spring

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. spring — of water
  3. track — to keep track
  4. march — the month
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. track — a path
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. chair — a leader
  10. degree — an amount
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. bank — for money
  14. spring — a coil
  15. degree — temperature
  16. degree — from a university
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. march — the month
  19. perch — the fish
  20. bank — of a river
  21. march — music
  22. spring — the season
  23. bank — for money
  24. track — a song

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