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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: hand · chest · wave · club · degree · craft · branch · fan

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. degree — an amount
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. hand — in cards
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. club — a group
  10. chest — of your body
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. hand — help
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. branch — a division
  15. club — for dancing
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. craft — a skill
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. club — for golf
  21. degree — temperature
  22. craft — boats
  23. chest — a box
  24. degree — from a university

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