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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: press · mouse · shower · perch · leaves · branch · bat · ground

  1. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. press — to push
  6. perch — the fish
  7. bat — the animal
  8. shower — rain
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. ground — a position
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. ground — the earth
  15. press — a publisher
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. press — newspapers
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. branch — a division
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. ground — crushed
  23. shower — to wash
  24. perch — for a bird

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