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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: field · current · stem · court · hand · club · branch · leaves

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. field — farmland
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. court — for sport
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. club — for dancing
  11. stem — to come from
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. court — of a king
  14. court — of law
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. field — for sport
  17. current — electric
  18. club — for golf
  19. club — a group
  20. current — happening now
  21. field — a subject
  22. branch — a division
  23. hand — in cards
  24. current — of water

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