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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. bound — obliged
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. branch — a division
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. bear — the animal
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. stock — goods
  14. bat — the animal
  15. stock — shares
  16. perch — the fish
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. capital — money
  19. bear — the animal
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. capital — a city
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bound — tied together
  24. bound — certain

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