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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: capital · stock · branch · fork · tube · race · chest · pound

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. race — the arms race
  4. capital — money
  5. stock — shares
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. fork — in a road
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. stock — goods
  11. tube — the underground
  12. race — a contest
  13. branch — a division
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. chest — of your body
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. tube — a container
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. chest — of your body
  21. capital — a city
  22. chest — a box
  23. pound — a weight
  24. race — humankind

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