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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: mine · last · hand · chair · lean · branch · tube · bark

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. bark — to shout
  5. hand — in cards
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. last — final
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. last — to go on
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. branch — a division
  13. tube — the underground
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. lean — to bend
  17. last — finally
  18. hand — help
  19. tube — a container
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. lean — thin
  23. chair — a leader
  24. mine — an explosive

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