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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: wound · kick · branch · bat · track · pound · rest · trunk

  1. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. kick — in football
  6. pound — a weight
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. track — to keep track
  9. rest — a break
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. rest — what's left
  14. rest — what's left
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. wound — an injury
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. track — a path
  21. branch — a division
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. wound — an injury
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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