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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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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 · bat · kid · club · spring · rest · ground · pound

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. kid — child
  3. rest — what's left
  4. rest — a break
  5. branch — a division
  6. spring — of water
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. club — for dancing
  10. spring — a coil
  11. pound — a weight
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. ground — crushed
  15. club — a group
  16. rest — what's left
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. spring — the season
  19. ground — the earth
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. kid — to tease
  23. club — for golf
  24. pound — to hit hard

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