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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: court · branch · stock · spring · tube · calf · hand · date

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. stock — goods
  3. hand — in cards
  4. tube — the underground
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. spring — the season
  7. court — for sport
  8. hand — help
  9. stock — shares
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. branch — a division
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. court — of a king
  20. date — the fruit
  21. spring — a coil
  22. spring — of water
  23. tube — a container
  24. calf — a young animal

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