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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: lean · firm · straw · wave · field · branch · hand · wound

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. field — farmland
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. lean — to bend
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. firm — decided
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. branch — a division
  11. hand — help
  12. lean — thin
  13. firm — steady
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. firm — a company
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. wound — an injury
  20. hand — in cards
  21. field — a subject
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. field — for sport
  24. branch — of a bank

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