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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 120 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: tear · race · pound · chest · trunk · rule · fall · branch

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. fall — to drop
  3. fall — to drop
  4. rule — a law
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. rule — government
  7. pound — a weight
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. branch — a division
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. race — the arms race
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. tear — to rip
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — a box
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. race — a contest
  18. fall — the season
  19. chest — of your body
  20. tear — from crying
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. tear — from crying
  23. race — humankind
  24. branch — of a tree

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