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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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. date — the fruit
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. clip — for paper
  5. clip — to cut
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. branch — a division
  8. stock — shares
  9. squash — the sport
  10. land — a country
  11. can — to be able to
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. clip — a video
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. wind — moving air
  16. land — ground
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. can — a tin
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. land — to come down
  21. wind — moving air
  22. can — a tin
  23. squash — to crush
  24. stock — goods

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