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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: band · key · chest · wound · branch · race · mine · ruler

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. chest — a box
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. band — a ring
  6. wound — an injury
  7. key — the most important part
  8. race — the arms race
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. chest — of your body
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. band — a music group
  14. race — a contest
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. chest — of your body
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. wound — an injury
  21. key — in music
  22. branch — a division
  23. race — humankind
  24. key — for a lock

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