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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. stock — goods
  4. pit — a hole
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. cold — not warm
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. drill — the tool
  10. stock — shares
  11. ball — a great time
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. cold — an illness
  14. capital — a city
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. ball — a dance
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. drill — a practice
  21. capital — money
  22. pit — in a race
  23. drill — army training
  24. capital — a big letter

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