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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. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. last — final
  3. bat — the animal
  4. ground — crushed
  5. branch — a division
  6. drill — the tool
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. ground — the earth
  9. bank — for money
  10. drill — a practice
  11. last — finally
  12. file — a document
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. bank — of a river
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. ground — a position
  17. last — to go on
  18. drill — army training
  19. file — a line of people
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. file — a tool
  24. bank — for money

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