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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: bat · arm · stock · kid · rash · spring · branch · charge

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. spring — a coil
  3. kid — child
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. spring — the season
  6. stock — shares
  7. charge — a price
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. stock — goods
  10. charge — in control
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. spring — of water
  14. rash — hasty
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. charge — electricity
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. rash — a series
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. kid — to tease
  24. bat — the animal

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