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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: branch · roll · mine · ball · chest · capital · trunk · club

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  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. chest — of your body
  2. ball — a great time
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. capital — money
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. club — for dancing
  7. chest — a box
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. mine — for digging
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. roll — a cake
  16. club — a group
  17. branch — a division
  18. roll — a list
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. ball — a dance
  21. club — for golf
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. capital — a city
  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