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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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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: deal · branch · cold · stock · fork · current · stick · band

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. cold — an illness
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. current — electric
  5. stock — goods
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. branch — a division
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. stock — shares
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. deal — to handle
  13. current — happening now
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. band — a ring
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. fork — in a road
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. current — of water
  24. deal — an agreement

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