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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 belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. current — electric
  3. stock — goods
  4. branch — a division
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. stock — shares
  9. current — happening now
  10. current — of water
  11. fork — in a road
  12. club — for dancing
  13. row — to paddle
  14. row — a line
  15. pound — a weight
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. chest — of your body
  18. club — for golf
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. chest — a box
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. chest — of your body

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