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

Word bank: branch · chest · hide · bowl · bark · file · kick · mine

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. mine — for digging
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bark — to shout
  11. chest — a box
  12. file — a tool
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. kick — in football
  16. file — a line of people
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. branch — a division
  19. chest — of your body
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. file — a document
  24. hide — to keep secret

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