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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: chip · branch · lean · band · cold · swing · rest · game

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  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. rest — a break
  2. swing — in golf
  3. lean — thin
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. branch — a division
  6. rest — what's left
  7. chip — to eat
  8. lean — to bend
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. cold — an illness
  13. swing — music
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — not warm
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. swing — to play on
  18. game — wild animals
  19. rest — what's left
  20. game — a match
  21. chip — for betting
  22. band — a music group
  23. band — a ring
  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