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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. stock — goods
  3. wind — moving air
  4. court — of law
  5. pop — to visit
  6. court — for sport
  7. ground — crushed
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. shower — to wash
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. pop — music
  12. court — of a king
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. wind — moving air
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. pop — soda
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. ground — the earth
  21. stock — shares
  22. ground — a position
  23. shower — rain
  24. date — the fruit

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