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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 120 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: ruler · fall · temple · cell · branch · bat · wound · perch

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. cell — a phone
  5. wound — an injury
  6. bat — the animal
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. branch — a division
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. fall — to drop
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. perch — the fish
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. fall — to drop
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. cell — in biology
  24. fall — the season

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