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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: squash · straw · game · branch · scale · ball · pass · chest

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. pass — a permit
  4. squash — the sport
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. game — a match
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. branch — a division
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. chest — of your body
  13. game — wild animals
  14. ball — a dance
  15. squash — to crush
  16. scale — size or range
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. scale — in music
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. ball — a great time
  22. chest — a box
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. scale — for weighing

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