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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 120 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. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. pop — music
  3. degree — an amount
  4. degree — from a university
  5. content — happy
  6. capital — money
  7. stock — goods
  8. root — the cause
  9. pop — to visit
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. capital — a city
  13. bank — of a river
  14. root — of a plant
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. content — the amount
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. branch — a division
  19. stock — shares
  20. degree — temperature
  21. pop — soda
  22. root — of a word
  23. bank — for money
  24. content — videos and posts

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