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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. mine — for digging
  3. net — in sport
  4. cold — not warm
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. bound — obliged
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. charge — in control
  12. net — after costs
  13. stock — goods
  14. net — for catching
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. bound — tied together
  17. charge — electricity
  18. branch — a division
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. cold — an illness
  22. fork — in a road
  23. charge — a price
  24. stock — shares

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