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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: rest · chest · kick · cap · pit · prune · branch · bore

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. cap — a lid
  3. chest — of your body
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. chest — a box
  6. prune — to trim
  7. bore — to drill
  8. branch — a division
  9. chest — of your body
  10. kick — in football
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. pit — a hole
  14. bore — to tire
  15. cap — a hat
  16. prune — to trim
  17. rest — what's left
  18. pit — in a race
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. rest — what's left
  22. cap — of ice
  23. rest — a break
  24. bore — gave birth

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