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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. cue — a signal
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. court — of law
  10. court — of a king
  11. cue — for pool
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. wound — an injury
  15. court — for sport
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. bat — the animal
  20. wound — an injury
  21. hand — help
  22. hand — in cards
  23. perch — the fish
  24. branch — a division

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