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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 120 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. march — the month
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. season — in sport
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. season — of the year
  9. branch — a division
  10. stock — goods
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. kid — to tease
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. stock — shares
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. field — for sport
  17. field — farmland
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. march — music
  21. field — a subject
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. calf — a young animal
  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