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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. branch — a division
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. stock — goods
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. tear — to rip
  9. scale — in music
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. court — for sport
  12. court — of a king
  13. tear — from crying
  14. mate — a friend
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. tear — from crying
  19. scale — size or range
  20. mate — to breed
  21. court — of law
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. dip — to sink
  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