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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 120 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: march · court · cell · ground · foot · racket · perch · arm

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. ground — crushed
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. cell — a phone
  5. march — the month
  6. march — the month
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. ground — a position
  9. foot — a measure
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. perch — the fish
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. march — music
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. court — for sport
  20. cell — in biology
  21. court — of a king
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. ground — the earth
  24. perch — for a bird

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