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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: land · wound · object · branch · last · chest · lash · present

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. object — an aim
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. last — to go on
  5. chest — of your body
  6. object — to protest
  7. land — ground
  8. present — the time now
  9. wound — an injury
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. last — finally
  12. chest — a box
  13. last — final
  14. land — a country
  15. object — a thing
  16. branch — a division
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. present — a gift
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. land — to come down
  22. chest — of your body
  23. present — there
  24. wound — an injury

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