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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: stock · chair · net · branch · kick · wound · spring · race

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  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. spring — a coil
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. stock — goods
  4. wound — an injury
  5. spring — the season
  6. race — the arms race
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. branch — a division
  9. kick — in football
  10. spring — of water
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. chair — a leader
  13. wound — an injury
  14. net — after costs
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. race — humankind
  17. stock — shares
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. net — for catching
  20. race — a contest
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. net — in sport

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