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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. object — to protest
  3. fine — high quality
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. sharp — clever
  7. cell — a phone
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. object — a thing
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. wound — an injury
  13. fine — all right
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. swing — in golf
  16. swing — music
  17. chest — a box
  18. swing — to play on
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. chest — of your body
  21. branch — a division
  22. object — an aim
  23. wound — an injury
  24. cell — in biology

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