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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 120 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: march · club · stock · land · clip · staff · present · branch

  1. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. branch — a division
  3. march — the month
  4. stock — goods
  5. club — for golf
  6. present — the time now
  7. present — there
  8. club — a group
  9. staff — employees
  10. clip — to cut
  11. march — music
  12. clip — for paper
  13. club — for dancing
  14. land — to come down
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. land — a country
  17. land — ground
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. staff — employees
  20. clip — a video
  21. staff — a stick
  22. stock — shares
  23. present — a gift
  24. march — the month

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