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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: pit · branch · scale · jam · fan · stock · cold · arm

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. branch — a division
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. cold — not warm
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. scale — size or range
  17. scale — in music
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. stock — shares
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. pit — a hole
  23. cold — an illness
  24. pit — in a race

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