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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · bat · straw · game · chip · shower · racket · court

  1. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. game — wild animals
  4. court — of a king
  5. shower — to wash
  6. chip — to eat
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. branch — a division
  10. shower — rain
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. court — for sport
  14. chip — for betting
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. game — a match
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. court — of law
  22. bat — the animal
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. bat — for 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