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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 116 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: perch · hand · sharp · bat · branch · calf · fan · ground

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. sharp — clever
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. hand — help
  12. bat — the animal
  13. hand — in cards
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. ground — a position
  19. perch — the fish
  20. ground — the earth
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. branch — a division
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. ground — crushed

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