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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: chest · wound · fan · rash · branch · bore · bear · mine

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. chest — of your body
  4. bear — the animal
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. wound — an injury
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. bore — to drill
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. bore — to tire
  16. bear — the animal
  17. chest — a box
  18. chest — of your body
  19. wound — an injury
  20. rash — a series
  21. mine — for digging
  22. branch — a division
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. rash — hasty

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