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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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. mate — a friend
  4. drill — army training
  5. cold — not warm
  6. mate — to breed
  7. branch — a division
  8. kid — child
  9. face — to confront
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. kid — to tease
  12. cold — an illness
  13. face — part of the head
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. face — to point toward
  16. drill — a practice
  17. drill — the tool
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. mate — a partner
  21. stock — shares
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. stock — goods

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