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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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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: fall · chest · fork · bass · bat · branch · mine · chair

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. bass — the fish
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fall — the season
  8. bass — low music
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. chair — a leader
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. bat — the animal
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. fall — to drop
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. branch — a division
  20. chest — a box
  21. mine — for digging
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. fork — in a road
  24. mine — belonging to me

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