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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: branch · cap · field · trunk · bass · court · coach · spell

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. court — for sport
  3. field — farmland
  4. cap — a lid
  5. branch — a division
  6. spell — a short time
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. spell — letters
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. cap — a hat
  12. court — of a king
  13. bass — low music
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. cap — of ice
  16. court — of law
  17. spell — magic
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. field — for sport
  22. bass — the fish
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. trunk — of a tree

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