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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: track · court · arm · bound · stem · cold · chip · perch

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. bound — tied together
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. chip — for betting
  5. cold — not warm
  6. court — for sport
  7. bound — certain
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. bound — obliged
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. chip — to eat
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. track — a path
  15. court — of law
  16. perch — the fish
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. track — a song
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. track — to keep track
  23. court — of a king
  24. stem — to come from

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