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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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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: march · lash · chest · branch · club · race · bear · wax

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. club — a group
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. branch — a division
  9. chest — of your body
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. race — the arms race
  12. race — a contest
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. club — for dancing
  15. bear — the animal
  16. march — the month
  17. march — the month
  18. march — music
  19. chest — a box
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. bear — the animal
  22. wax — to grow
  23. club — for golf
  24. race — humankind

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