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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. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. bound — tied together
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. net — after costs
  6. stock — goods
  7. bank — for money
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. bound — certain
  10. stock — shares
  11. degree — an amount
  12. pop — soda
  13. bank — of a river
  14. hand — in cards
  15. bound — obliged
  16. net — in sport
  17. net — for catching
  18. pop — music
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. degree — temperature
  21. degree — from a university
  22. pop — to visit
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. hand — help

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