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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: degree · trunk · game · stock · toast · court · branch · bear

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. degree — from a university
  3. stock — shares
  4. bear — the animal
  5. stock — goods
  6. degree — an amount
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. toast — bread
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. branch — a division
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. bear — the animal
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. court — of a king
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. court — of law
  22. game — a match
  23. degree — temperature
  24. game — wild animals

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