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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: arm · patient · saw · cell · craft · capital · tear · perch

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. saw — the tool
  3. tear — from crying
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. capital — money
  8. cell — in biology
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. saw — the tool
  11. craft — boats
  12. capital — a city
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. tear — to rip
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. craft — a skill
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. tear — from crying
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. cell — a phone

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