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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: band · club · swing · spring · branch · straw · cap · suit

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. club — a group
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. band — a ring
  6. suit — clothes
  7. branch — a division
  8. suit — to fit
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. swing — in golf
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. spring — of water
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. band — a music group
  16. swing — to play on
  17. club — for dancing
  18. suit — in cards
  19. cap — a hat
  20. cap — a lid
  21. spring — a coil
  22. cap — of ice
  23. spring — the season
  24. swing — music

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