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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: field · stock · cabinet · branch · scale · key · content · kid

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. scale — size or range
  5. content — the amount
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. key — the most important part
  8. content — happy
  9. key — for a lock
  10. kid — child
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. kid — to tease
  15. field — for sport
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. field — a subject
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. branch — a division
  20. stock — shares
  21. stock — goods
  22. scale — in music
  23. key — in music
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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