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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: chair · hand · net · branch · chest · stick · track · stock

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. net — for catching
  3. hand — help
  4. chair — a leader
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. net — after costs
  7. track — a path
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. hand — in cards
  10. track — a song
  11. chest — of your body
  12. stock — shares
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. branch — a division
  16. track — to keep track
  17. chest — a box
  18. net — in sport
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. stock — goods
  24. hand — part of the body

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