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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: hand · tube · chair · wax · net · lean · stock · branch

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. stock — shares
  3. chair — a leader
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. hand — in cards
  7. lean — to bend
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. stock — goods
  10. branch — a division
  11. lean — thin
  12. hand — help
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. net — after costs
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. tube — a container
  18. tube — the underground
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. wax — to grow
  24. net — in sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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