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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. charge — a price
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. chest — of your body
  7. board — to get on
  8. stock — goods
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. chest — of your body
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bass — the fish
  13. chest — a box
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. board — a committee
  16. bass — low music
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. scale — in music
  19. stock — shares
  20. cold — not warm
  21. charge — electricity
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. charge — in control
  24. scale — size or range

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