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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 116 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — in a computer
  2. row — a line
  3. wind — moving air
  4. stock — goods
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. stock — shares
  7. tube — the underground
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. row — to paddle
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. tube — a container
  12. chip — to eat
  13. wind — moving air
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. branch — a division
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. chip — for betting

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