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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 116 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 · field · swing · bear · trunk · branch · ball · mine

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. mine — for digging
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. bat — the animal
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. ball — a great time
  7. branch — a division
  8. swing — to play on
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. ball — a dance
  11. field — farmland
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. bear — the animal
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. swing — music
  16. field — a subject
  17. bear — the animal
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. swing — in golf
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. field — for sport
  24. bear — to put up with

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