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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  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. trunk — of a car
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. lie — to recline
  4. stock — shares
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. game — a match
  7. stock — goods
  8. branch — a division
  9. degree — from a university
  10. spell — magic
  11. degree — temperature
  12. game — wild animals
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. spell — letters
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. spell — a short time
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. degree — an amount
  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