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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: ground · branch · chest · cell · fall · bass · clip · safe

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. fall — the season
  3. ground — the earth
  4. clip — to cut
  5. branch — a division
  6. bass — the fish
  7. clip — a video
  8. chest — of your body
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. cell — a phone
  11. clip — for paper
  12. ground — a position
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. bass — low music
  15. safe — a strongbox
  16. fall — to drop
  17. ground — crushed
  18. fall — to drop
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. cell — in biology
  22. chest — a box
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. bass — the instrument

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