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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 116 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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. stock — shares
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. branch — a division
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. tear — from crying
  12. cell — a phone
  13. tear — from crying
  14. kick — in football
  15. cell — in biology
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. stock — goods
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. ball — a dance
  23. perch — the fish
  24. tear — to rip

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