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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: spring · branch · racket · land · stem · bark · bass · lean

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. lean — to bend
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. land — a country
  6. land — to come down
  7. bass — the fish
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. branch — a division
  10. bass — low music
  11. land — ground
  12. spring — of water
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. bark — to shout
  15. spring — the season
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. spring — a coil
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. stem — to come from
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. branch — 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