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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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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: band · mine · drill · lash · branch · press · perch · bat

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. branch — a division
  3. band — a ring
  4. press — newspapers
  5. drill — the tool
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. drill — army training
  10. drill — a practice
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. mine — for digging
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. press — a publisher
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. perch — the fish
  19. band — a music group
  20. bat — the animal
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. press — to push
  24. branch — 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