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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: branch · patient · stock · fan · swing · track · bat · bark

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  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. stock — a soup base
  2. swing — music
  3. branch — a division
  4. stock — shares
  5. stock — goods
  6. track — to keep track
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bat — the animal
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. track — a path
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. swing — in golf
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. swing — to play on
  22. track — a song
  23. bark — to shout
  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