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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: roll · bound · branch · chest · wake · pitcher

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. chest — a box
  3. roll — a cake
  4. branch — a division
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. chest — of your body
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. bound — obliged
  11. roll — a list
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bound — tied together
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. wake — a trail
  18. bound — certain

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