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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. stock — shares
  3. club — a group
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. perch — the fish
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. prune — to trim
  9. club — for dancing
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. branch — a division
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. wind — moving air
  15. bat — the animal
  16. wind — moving air
  17. stock — goods
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. club — for golf
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. prune — to trim
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. branch — of a bank

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