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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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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: straw · race · spell · branch · chest · roll · court · pit

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. branch — a division
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. pit — a hole
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. race — humankind
  10. spell — letters
  11. court — of a king
  12. spell — magic
  13. chest — of your body
  14. pit — in a race
  15. race — the arms race
  16. court — of law
  17. spell — a short time
  18. chest — a box
  19. roll — a list
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. roll — a cake
  23. chest — of your body
  24. race — a contest

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