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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: hand · perch · patient · stem · field · branch · trunk · net

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. stem — to come from
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. field — a subject
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. hand — help
  11. field — for sport
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. perch — the fish
  14. net — in sport
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. net — for catching
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. field — farmland
  22. hand — in cards
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. branch — a division

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