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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: content · club · mine · trunk · kid · hide · pitch · branch

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. club — for golf
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. kid — child
  7. branch — a division
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. club — for dancing
  10. content — happy
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. content — the amount
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. kid — to tease
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. club — a group
  20. pitch — completely
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. mine — for digging
  24. content — videos and posts

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