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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. ground — a position
  7. file — a document
  8. file — a tool
  9. file — a line of people
  10. stock — shares
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. stock — goods
  13. fall — to drop
  14. ground — the earth
  15. wound — an injury
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. branch — a division
  19. ground — crushed
  20. fall — to drop
  21. wound — an injury
  22. fall — the season
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. branch — 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