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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: perch · fine · kick · wind · degree · chair · prune · arm

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  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. wind — moving air
  2. prune — to trim
  3. wind — moving air
  4. fine — high quality
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. chair — a leader
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. degree — temperature
  10. degree — an amount
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. perch — the fish
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. fine — all right
  18. kick — in football
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. prune — to trim
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. degree — from a university
  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