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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 120 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: mate · branch · trunk · kid · calf · court · tube · row

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. tube — the underground
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. court — of law
  6. mate — to breed
  7. branch — a division
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. kid — child
  11. mate — a friend
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. kid — to tease
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. row — to paddle
  20. court — of a king
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. row — a line
  23. mate — a partner
  24. tube — a container

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