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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. chest — of your body
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. chest — a box
  6. capital — a city
  7. chest — of your body
  8. club — for dancing
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. race — humankind
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. perch — the fish
  14. club — for golf
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. race — the arms race
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. race — a contest
  19. club — a group
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. stand — to bear
  22. branch — a division
  23. capital — money
  24. wound — an injury

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