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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 · racket · shower · cell · march · pound · perch · tear

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. perch — the fish
  3. cell — a phone
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. pound — a weight
  7. march — the month
  8. shower — rain
  9. cell — in biology
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. tear — to rip
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. tear — from crying
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. shower — to wash
  17. tear — from crying
  18. march — music
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. march — the month
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. racket — a loud noise

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