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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: chest · pit · drill · arm · branch · tube · wound · mine

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. chest — of your body
  3. tube — the underground
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. wound — an injury
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. pit — a hole
  11. pit — in a race
  12. tube — a container
  13. branch — a division
  14. drill — army training
  15. chest — of your body
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. chest — a box
  20. drill — the tool
  21. wound — an injury
  22. drill — a practice
  23. mine — for digging
  24. arm — a part of something

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