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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: perch · cold · wind · ground · bank · root · bat · branch

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. cold — an illness
  4. ground — a position
  5. branch — a division
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. root — the cause
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bank — for money
  12. root — of a plant
  13. ground — crushed
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. root — of a word
  17. ground — the earth
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cold — not warm
  21. bank — for money
  22. bank — of a river
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. perch — the fish

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