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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. stock — goods
  3. prune — to trim
  4. stock — shares
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — an illness
  7. tube — a container
  8. row — to paddle
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. chair — a leader
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. tube — the underground
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. branch — a division
  19. plane — a tool
  20. prune — to trim
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. stock — a soup base

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