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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 120 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chest · lie · shower · branch · ball · fall

  1. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. shower — to wash
  3. chest — of your body
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. ball — a dance
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. chest — a box
  8. fall — the season
  9. chest — of your body
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. lie — to recline
  12. shower — rain
  13. fall — to drop
  14. branch — a division
  15. ball — a great time
  16. fall — to drop
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. lie — an untruth

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