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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  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. stock — a soup base
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. hand — in cards
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. hand — help
  10. band — a ring
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. fork — in a road
  15. band — a music group
  16. deal — to handle
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. stock — goods
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. branch — a division
  21. stock — shares
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. band — a rubber band
  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