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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: bark · kick · snap · branch · cabinet · chest · cell · chip

  1. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. kick — in football
  3. chest — of your body
  4. snap — to click
  5. chip — for betting
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. chip — to eat
  10. branch — a division
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. cell — in biology
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. chest — of your body
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. chest — a box
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. bark — to shout
  21. cell — a phone
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. kick — with a leg

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