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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: game · chest · squash · file · tear · band · branch · pitcher

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. chest — of your body
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. file — a line of people
  6. game — a match
  7. tear — to rip
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. tear — from crying
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. game — wild animals
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. file — a document
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. tear — from crying
  16. squash — the sport
  17. branch — a division
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. chest — a box
  20. squash — to crush
  21. file — a tool
  22. band — a ring
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. chest — of your body

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