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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 · capital · mine · lie · stock · bear · pop · branch

  1. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. branch — a division
  3. field — for sport
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. stock — shares
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. field — a subject
  9. stock — goods
  10. bear — the animal
  11. pop — music
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. capital — a city
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. capital — money
  17. mine — for digging
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. field — farmland
  20. lie — to recline
  21. pop — soda
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. pop — to visit
  24. stock — a soup base

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