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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: kid · pop · branch · spring · bass · rock · stem · chest

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. bass — low music
  3. spring — the season
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. spring — of water
  6. rock — a stone
  7. spring — a coil
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. stem — to come from
  10. pop — music
  11. kid — to tease
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. chest — of your body
  14. rock — music
  15. kid — child
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. pop — to visit
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. chest — a box
  22. pop — soda
  23. bass — the fish
  24. chest — of your body

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