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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: shower · arm · cap · lie · perch · trunk · patient · kid

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. kid — child
  8. shower — rain
  9. kid — to tease
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. cap — a lid
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. cap — a hat
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. perch — the fish
  19. shower — to wash
  20. cap — of ice
  21. lie — to recline
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. trunk — of a tree

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