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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: kid · track · stock · rest · capital · branch · fall · trunk

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. rest — what's left
  4. kid — child
  5. kid — to tease
  6. track — to keep track
  7. branch — a division
  8. rest — a break
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. track — a path
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. rest — what's left
  16. stock — shares
  17. capital — a city
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. track — a song
  20. fall — to drop
  21. capital — money
  22. stock — goods
  23. fall — the season
  24. trunk — 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