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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: chest · rash · file · bat · mouse · wake · branch · chair

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. file — a tool
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. branch — a division
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. file — a document
  8. chest — a box
  9. chair — a leader
  10. rash — hasty
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. rash — a series
  14. chest — of your body
  15. file — a line of people
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. bat — the animal
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. wake — a trail
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. mouse — the animal

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