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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: stock · bore · branch · net · row · bank · march · cold

  1. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. march — the month
  3. branch — a division
  4. net — after costs
  5. net — for catching
  6. bore — to drill
  7. march — music
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. march — the month
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. net — in sport
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. stock — goods
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. bank — of a river
  16. row — to paddle
  17. bank — for money
  18. row — a line
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bore — to tire
  23. stock — shares
  24. cold — not warm

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