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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: deal · cell · wind · court · chest · branch · lie · sharp

  1. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. wind — moving air
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. chest — of your body
  5. cell — a phone
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. chest — of your body
  8. branch — a division
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. court — of law
  11. cell — in biology
  12. wind — moving air
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. court — for sport
  16. deal — to handle
  17. court — of a king
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. chest — a box
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. sharp — clever

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