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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 120 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: tear · bulb · saw · capital · stock · row · branch · cold

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. saw — the tool
  3. cold — an illness
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. branch — a division
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bulb — for light
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. row — a line
  13. saw — the tool
  14. capital — money
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bulb — for light
  18. tear — to rip
  19. cold — not warm
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. capital — a city
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. stock — goods
  24. stock — shares

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