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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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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: game · kick · ground · cabinet · last · chest · branch · court

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. game — wild animals
  3. branch — a division
  4. chest — of your body
  5. game — a match
  6. last — to go on
  7. last — finally
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. court — for sport
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. kick — in football
  13. last — final
  14. ground — the earth
  15. ground — a position
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. chest — a box
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. court — of a king
  21. court — of law
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. chest — of your body

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