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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: game · branch · stock · field · club · clip · chest · cue

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. branch — a division
  3. cue — for pool
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. stock — goods
  7. club — a group
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. field — a subject
  10. cue — a hint
  11. field — for sport
  12. game — wild animals
  13. clip — a video
  14. game — a match
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. clip — to cut
  17. stock — shares
  18. chest — of your body
  19. club — for golf
  20. clip — for paper
  21. cue — a signal
  22. field — farmland
  23. club — for dancing
  24. chest — of your body

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