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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: perch · kick · arm · bear · last · shower · field · cap

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. shower — to wash
  3. bear — the animal
  4. kick — in football
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. shower — rain
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. last — to go on
  12. field — for sport
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. cap — a hat
  15. field — farmland
  16. cap — a lid
  17. cap — of ice
  18. bear — the animal
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. field — a subject
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. last — finally
  23. perch — the fish
  24. last — final

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