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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: leaves · wind · bark · march · nail · chest · branch · chip

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. chip — for betting
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. march — the month
  7. wind — moving air
  8. branch — a division
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. chip — to eat
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. bark — to shout
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. chest — a box
  19. chest — of your body
  20. march — music
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. march — the month

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