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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · ball · trunk · race · chest · root · rash · spring

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. branch — a division
  3. ball — a dance
  4. ball — a great time
  5. root — of a word
  6. chest — of your body
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. race — a contest
  9. race — humankind
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. rash — hasty
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. rash — a series
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. spring — of water
  17. chest — of your body
  18. race — the arms race
  19. root — of a plant
  20. root — the cause
  21. chest — a box
  22. spring — a coil
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. branch — of a bank

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