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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 · fork · wound · swing · net · mate · branch

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. stock — shares
  3. mate — a friend
  4. swing — to play on
  5. net — for catching
  6. mate — to breed
  7. field — farmland
  8. wound — an injury
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. mate — a partner
  12. branch — a division
  13. swing — in golf
  14. net — after costs
  15. field — for sport
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. net — in sport
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. stock — goods
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. swing — music
  22. field — a subject
  23. fork — in a road
  24. fork — a garden tool

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