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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. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. land — a country
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. branch — a division
  7. stock — shares
  8. land — ground
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. kid — to tease
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. stock — goods
  13. firm — steady
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. net — for catching
  16. kid — child
  17. net — in sport
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. firm — decided
  21. net — after costs
  22. land — to come down
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. prune — to trim

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