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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  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. perch — the fish
  2. net — after costs
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. key — for a lock
  5. net — for catching
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. race — the arms race
  8. spring — a coil
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. stock — goods
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. spring — the season
  14. branch — a division
  15. capital — a city
  16. stock — shares
  17. race — humankind
  18. key — the most important part
  19. key — in music
  20. capital — money
  21. race — a contest
  22. spring — of water
  23. net — in sport
  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