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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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: chest · branch · mine · ground · perch · pitch · spell · wound

  1. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. branch — a division
  3. wound — an injury
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. mine — for digging
  7. spell — a short time
  8. chest — a box
  9. spell — letters
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. ground — crushed
  12. chest — of your body
  13. pitch — completely
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. ground — the earth
  18. chest — of your body
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. spell — magic
  22. ground — a position
  23. wound — an injury
  24. perch — for a bird

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