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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 · trunk · cold · roll · spring · calf · scale · band

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. scale — in music
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. roll — a list
  7. band — a ring
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. cold — an illness
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. branch — a division
  16. spring — the season
  17. spring — a coil
  18. scale — size or range
  19. cold — not warm
  20. spring — of water
  21. roll — a cake
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. band — a music group
  24. roll — on a roll

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