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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  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. file — a tool
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. object — a thing
  4. capital — money
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. stock — shares
  8. object — an aim
  9. stock — goods
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. degree — temperature
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. wind — moving air
  15. capital — a city
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. file — a line of people
  18. degree — an amount
  19. branch — a division
  20. object — to protest
  21. degree — from a university
  22. file — a document
  23. wind — moving air
  24. branch — of a bank

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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