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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: branch · file · net · game · capital · swing · trunk · leaves

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. net — after costs
  3. swing — music
  4. game — wild animals
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. capital — a city
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. net — for catching
  9. swing — to play on
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. game — a match
  13. file — a line of people
  14. file — a document
  15. file — a tool
  16. net — in sport
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. swing — in golf
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. branch — a division
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. game — a kind of play

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