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

Word bank: branch · march · chair · chest · tear · fall

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. chair — a leader
  4. chest — of your body
  5. march — the month
  6. fall — the season
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. tear — from crying
  9. march — music
  10. chest — a box
  11. fall — to drop
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. chest — of your body
  15. branch — a division
  16. march — the month
  17. tear — to rip
  18. tear — from crying

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