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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. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. kid — child
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. swing — music
  6. branch — a division
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. club — for golf
  9. swing — in golf
  10. capital — a city
  11. hand — help
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. stock — shares
  14. kid — to tease
  15. club — for dancing
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. stock — goods
  18. bear — the animal
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. swing — to play on
  21. hand — in cards
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. capital — money
  24. club — a group

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