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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 116 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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. stock — goods
  4. kick — in football
  5. stock — shares
  6. wind — moving air
  7. court — of law
  8. bound — tied together
  9. bound — obliged
  10. court — of a king
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. wind — moving air
  13. row — a line
  14. mine — for digging
  15. court — for sport
  16. bound — certain
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. row — to paddle
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. kick — with a leg

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