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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 not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. branch — a division
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. shower — rain
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. season — in sport
  14. shower — to wash
  15. wound — an injury
  16. season — of the year
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. rash — hasty
  20. rash — a series
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. bat — for baseball

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