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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: chest · field · drill · snap · bore · stem · branch · capital

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. chest — of your body
  3. stem — to come from
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. chest — a box
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. drill — a practice
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. bore — to drill
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. field — a subject
  14. drill — the tool
  15. field — for sport
  16. branch — a division
  17. chest — of your body
  18. snap — to click
  19. drill — army training
  20. field — farmland
  21. capital — a city
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. capital — money
  24. bore — to tire

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