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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. chest — of your body
  3. game — wild animals
  4. last — final
  5. pop — soda
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. chest — of your body
  9. last — finally
  10. chest — a box
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. chair — a leader
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. branch — a division
  16. pop — to visit
  17. fork — in a road
  18. last — to go on
  19. pop — music
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. wake — a trail
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. game — a match

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