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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 · bowl · snap · branch · pop · degree · wound · trunk

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. chest — of your body
  3. pop — to visit
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. wound — an injury
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. degree — from a university
  9. chest — a box
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. degree — temperature
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. chest — of your body
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. degree — an amount
  18. snap — to click
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. branch — a division
  21. pop — music
  22. wound — an injury
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. pop — soda

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