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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: hand · season · rest · chest · wound · stock · branch · perch

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. wound — an injury
  4. chest — of your body
  5. branch — a division
  6. season — in sport
  7. rest — what's left
  8. rest — a break
  9. hand — help
  10. wound — an injury
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. perch — the fish
  15. rest — what's left
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. chest — of your body
  18. season — of the year
  19. stock — goods
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. stock — shares
  22. hand — in cards
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. perch — for a bird

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