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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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Word bank
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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 · bound · capital · leaves · hand · straw · perch · branch

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. perch — the fish
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. capital — money
  6. stock — goods
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. capital — a city
  9. hand — help
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. bound — obliged
  12. bound — tied together
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. bound — certain
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. hand — in cards
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. branch — a division
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. perch — for a bird

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