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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. chest — a box
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. branch — a division
  7. bound — tied together
  8. wound — an injury
  9. bound — obliged
  10. chest — of your body
  11. wound — an injury
  12. bound — certain
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. band — a music group
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. key — in music
  20. mine — for digging
  21. chest — of your body
  22. band — a ring
  23. key — for a lock
  24. key — the most important part

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