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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. mine — for digging
  3. ball — a dance
  4. wind — moving air
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. scale — size or range
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. scale — in music
  10. stand — to bear
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. staff — employees
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. staff — employees
  18. stock — goods
  19. staff — a stick
  20. branch — a division
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. stock — shares
  24. ball — a great time

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