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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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Word bank
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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. board — to get on
  4. root — of a plant
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. chest — a box
  7. branch — a division
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. board — a committee
  10. root — of a word
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. fork — in a road
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. kid — child
  15. mine — for digging
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — of your body
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. root — the cause
  24. branch — of a bank

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