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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. land — a country
  3. net — in sport
  4. bulb — for light
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. land — ground
  8. hand — help
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. bulb — for light
  11. scale — size or range
  12. net — for catching
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. chip — to eat
  17. hand — in cards
  18. chip — for betting
  19. stock — shares
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. branch — a division
  22. land — to come down
  23. scale — in music
  24. net — after costs

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