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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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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: last · wake · chest · branch · ball · row · net · track

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. chest — a box
  3. chest — of your body
  4. net — after costs
  5. row — a line
  6. last — final
  7. track — a song
  8. row — to paddle
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. track — to keep track
  12. branch — a division
  13. chest — of your body
  14. wake — a trail
  15. ball — a great time
  16. ball — a dance
  17. net — in sport
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. last — finally
  20. last — to go on
  21. net — for catching
  22. track — a path
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. branch — of a bank

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