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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: branch · date · band · hand · saw · trunk · field · fall

  1. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. field — farmland
  4. band — a ring
  5. fall — the season
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. fall — to drop
  10. field — for sport
  11. branch — a division
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. field — a subject
  14. date — the fruit
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. hand — help
  18. fall — to drop
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. saw — the tool
  21. saw — the tool
  22. band — a music group
  23. hand — in cards
  24. branch — of a bank

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