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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: branch · ground · roll · shower · chest · clip · bass · staff

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — a box
  4. branch — a division
  5. shower — to wash
  6. shower — rain
  7. bass — the fish
  8. clip — a video
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. clip — for paper
  11. staff — employees
  12. clip — to cut
  13. bass — low music
  14. ground — the earth
  15. roll — a list
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. staff — a stick
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. chest — of your body
  20. ground — a position
  21. ground — crushed
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. roll — a cake

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