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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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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: cap · perch · wound · stock · chip · kid · trunk · branch

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. cap — a lid
  4. stock — shares
  5. chip — for betting
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. kid — child
  8. kid — to tease
  9. perch — the fish
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. cap — a hat
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. stock — goods
  16. chip — to eat
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. branch — a division
  20. wound — an injury
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. perch — for a bird

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