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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: bat · branch · kid · perch · file · bowl · fan · arm

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  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. fan — to cool the air
  2. file — a tool
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. kid — to tease
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. branch — a division
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. bat — the animal
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. file — a line of people
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. kid — child
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. file — a document
  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