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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: straw · court · date · rash · hide · march · stock · branch

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. stock — goods
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. branch — a division
  7. court — of a king
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. march — the month
  11. stock — shares
  12. date — the fruit
  13. march — music
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. rash — a series
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. court — for sport
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. rash — hasty
  20. court — of law
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. march — the month
  24. date — on the calendar

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