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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. chest — of your body
  3. last — final
  4. bass — low music
  5. track — a song
  6. cell — in biology
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. branch — a division
  9. lean — to bend
  10. chest — of your body
  11. lean — thin
  12. track — to keep track
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. perch — the fish
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. bass — the fish
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. last — to go on
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. chest — a box
  22. track — a path
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. cell — a phone

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