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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. stock — goods
  3. march — the month
  4. march — the month
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. net — after costs
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. cell — in biology
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. branch — a division
  12. net — in sport
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. stock — shares
  15. kid — child
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. kid — to tease
  19. net — for catching
  20. cell — a phone
  21. march — music
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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