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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. hand — in cards
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. swing — music
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. ground — crushed
  7. race — humankind
  8. swing — in golf
  9. hand — help
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. swing — to play on
  13. race — a contest
  14. race — the arms race
  15. ground — a position
  16. ground — the earth
  17. kid — to tease
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. branch — a division
  20. kid — child
  21. sharp — clever
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. stock — shares

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