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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: coach · trunk · saw · ground · branch · row · chest · lash

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. saw — the tool
  3. chest — of your body
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. row — to paddle
  11. row — a line
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. ground — a position
  14. branch — a division
  15. saw — the tool
  16. chest — a box
  17. chest — of your body
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. ground — the earth
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. ground — crushed
  24. row — a quarrel

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