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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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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: vault · hand · land · stem · branch · wind · court · club

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. hand — in cards
  3. court — of a king
  4. wind — moving air
  5. club — for dancing
  6. club — for golf
  7. vault — a safe
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. branch — a division
  10. stem — to come from
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. court — of law
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. hand — help
  17. land — ground
  18. club — a group
  19. land — a country
  20. land — to come down
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. wind — moving air
  24. court — for sport

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