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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: stock · hand · branch · race · vault · bulb · prune · degree

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  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. bulb — of a plant
  2. stock — shares
  3. race — the arms race
  4. degree — from a university
  5. prune — to trim
  6. bulb — for light
  7. hand — in cards
  8. branch — a division
  9. prune — to trim
  10. stock — goods
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. degree — temperature
  13. race — a contest
  14. bulb — for light
  15. degree — an amount
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. hand — help
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. vault — a safe
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. race — humankind
  23. prune — the fruit
  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