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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: club · mine · bark · wake · scale · branch · trunk · pitcher

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. mine — for digging
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. club — for golf
  15. club — a group
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. wake — a trail
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. bark — to shout
  21. scale — in music
  22. scale — size or range
  23. branch — a division
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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