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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. 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. row — a line
  2. row — to paddle
  3. stock — shares
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. saw — the tool
  6. mine — for digging
  7. stock — goods
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. capital — a city
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. capital — money
  13. saw — the tool
  14. branch — a division
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. 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