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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. chest — of your body
  3. rock — music
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. hand — in cards
  6. branch — a division
  7. chest — of your body
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. staff — a stick
  10. race — the arms race
  11. rock — a stone
  12. race — a contest
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. hand — help
  19. game — a match
  20. race — humankind
  21. game — wild animals
  22. staff — employees
  23. chest — a box
  24. branch — of a bank

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