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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.

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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: land · branch · prune · cell · chair · lean · calf · chest

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. chest — of your body
  4. land — a country
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. chair — a leader
  9. land — to come down
  10. prune — to trim
  11. cell — in biology
  12. chest — a box
  13. lean — thin
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. prune — to trim
  16. branch — a division
  17. cell — a phone
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. chest — of your body
  20. land — ground
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. chair — a professorship

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