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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 · bound · lie · prune · chest · ground · cap · cell

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. ground — a position
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. ground — crushed
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. bound — obliged
  7. chest — of your body
  8. cap — a hat
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. chest — of your body
  11. ground — the earth
  12. lie — to recline
  13. chest — a box
  14. cell — a phone
  15. bound — certain
  16. prune — to trim
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. cell — in biology
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. prune — to trim
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. bound — tied together
  23. cap — a lid
  24. cap — of ice

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