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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · straw · present · arm · row · cold · branch · mug

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. stock — goods
  5. mug — to rob
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. row — to paddle
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. present — the time now
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. cold — an illness
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. stock — shares
  15. cold — not warm
  16. mug — a cup
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. branch — a division
  20. row — a line
  21. mug — a face
  22. present — there
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. branch — of a tree

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