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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 116 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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. land — a country
  3. fall — to drop
  4. stock — shares
  5. fork — in a road
  6. land — ground
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. march — music
  9. march — the month
  10. march — the month
  11. fall — the season
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. fall — to drop
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — an injury
  19. land — to come down
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. stock — goods
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. branch — a division

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