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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: chest · swing · mark · bat · patient · branch · saw · mine

  1. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. swing — music
  4. mine — for digging
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. saw — the tool
  10. saw — the tool
  11. swing — in golf
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bat — the animal
  14. chest — a box
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. chest — of your body
  21. mark — a trace
  22. branch — a division
  23. swing — to play on
  24. patient — a sick person

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