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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: spring · band · trunk · straw · wound · bark · chest · branch

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. wound — an injury
  5. chest — of your body
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. band — a music group
  12. wound — an injury
  13. branch — a division
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. chest — a box
  16. spring — the season
  17. band — a ring
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. bark — to shout
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. chest — of your body
  23. spring — a coil
  24. branch — of a tree

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