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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 124 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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. net — after costs
  5. band — a music group
  6. spring — the season
  7. bear — the animal
  8. band — a ring
  9. saw — the tool
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. stock — shares
  13. bear — the animal
  14. saw — the tool
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. bat — the animal
  18. spring — a coil
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. net — for catching
  22. net — in sport
  23. branch — a division
  24. stock — goods

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