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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  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. branch — of a tree
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. pop — music
  4. chest — of your body
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. mark — a trace
  8. stock — goods
  9. pop — soda
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. cold — an illness
  12. pop — to visit
  13. season — in sport
  14. chest — of your body
  15. rule — government
  16. season — of the year
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. branch — a division
  19. mark — a grade
  20. stock — shares
  21. cold — not warm
  22. chest — a box
  23. rule — a law
  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