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

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. branch — a division
  7. perch — the fish
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. lie — to recline
  10. file — a line of people
  11. game — a match
  12. game — wild animals
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. spring — of water
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spring — the season
  19. dip — to sink
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. file — a document
  23. file — a tool
  24. dip — to dunk

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