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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 120 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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — of your body
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. fine — all right
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. fine — high quality
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. bark — to shout
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. branch — a division
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. shower — to wash
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. sharp — clever
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. chest — a box
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. shower — rain

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