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

Word bank: bat · perch · wind · lie · chest · branch · pitch · row

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. chest — a box
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. perch — the fish
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. lie — to recline
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. wind — moving air
  12. row — a line
  13. chest — of your body
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. wind — moving air
  16. pitch — completely
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. branch — a division
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. row — to paddle
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. chest — of your body

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