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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: swing · trunk · rock · branch · chest · mine · cap · court

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. court — of law
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. swing — music
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. court — of a king
  8. chest — of your body
  9. branch — a division
  10. chest — of your body
  11. swing — in golf
  12. swing — to play on
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. rock — a stone
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. rock — music
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. court — for sport
  20. cap — a hat
  21. cap — of ice
  22. chest — a box
  23. mine — for digging
  24. cap — a lid

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