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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  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. board — a committee
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. ground — the earth
  4. swing — music
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. branch — a division
  7. ground — a position
  8. ground — crushed
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. board — to get on
  11. content — the amount
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. kid — child
  14. stock — shares
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. swing — in golf
  19. kid — to tease
  20. swing — to play on
  21. pitch — completely
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. content — happy
  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