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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. stock — goods
  3. clip — to cut
  4. pop — music
  5. pop — soda
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. stock — shares
  8. clip — a video
  9. mine — for digging
  10. clip — for paper
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. face — to confront
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. pop — to visit
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. face — part of the head
  19. band — a ring
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. face — to point toward
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. band — a music group
  24. branch — of a tree

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