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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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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. cold — not warm
  3. staff — employees
  4. stock — shares
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. scale — in music
  7. branch — a division
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. cold — an illness
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. staff — a stick
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. fork — in a road
  18. scale — size or range
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. stock — goods
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. staff — employees
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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