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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. capital — money
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. capital — a city
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. deal — to handle
  10. stock — goods
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. stock — shares
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. field — farmland
  19. field — for sport
  20. game — wild animals
  21. field — a subject
  22. branch — a division
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. deal — a big deal

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