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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. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. march — the month
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. deal — to handle
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. stock — shares
  11. cold — not warm
  12. march — music
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. cold — an illness
  15. branch — a division
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. pitch — completely
  19. stock — goods
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. march — the month
  24. pitch — a sports field

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