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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: perch · stem · branch · drill · cabinet · march · hand · mouse

  1. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. march — the month
  3. perch — the fish
  4. branch — a division
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. drill — a practice
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. march — music
  13. march — the month
  14. hand — help
  15. hand — in cards
  16. drill — the tool
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. drill — army training
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. stem — to come from

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