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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: cell · swing · drill · hand · fall · perch · branch · pound

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. hand — help
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. hand — in cards
  5. fall — to drop
  6. pound — a weight
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. branch — a division
  9. perch — the fish
  10. fall — to drop
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. cell — in biology
  16. drill — a practice
  17. cell — a phone
  18. swing — in golf
  19. drill — army training
  20. fall — the season
  21. drill — the tool
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. swing — to play on
  24. swing — music

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