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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 120 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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  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. mine — for digging
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. stock — goods
  5. swing — in golf
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. pound — a weight
  10. cold — not warm
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. swing — music
  14. swing — to play on
  15. stock — shares
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. cold — an illness
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. branch — a division
  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