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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: hand · chest · pit · stock · stick · chair · bark · branch

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. chair — a leader
  5. hand — help
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. bark — to shout
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. branch — a division
  12. stock — goods
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. stock — shares
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. pit — in a race
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. hand — in cards
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — a box

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