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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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. game — wild animals
  3. game — a match
  4. can — to be able to
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. branch — a division
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. content — happy
  11. stock — shares
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. rash — hasty
  16. march — the month
  17. march — music
  18. march — the month
  19. stock — goods
  20. rash — a series
  21. can — a tin
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. content — the amount

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