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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. field — a subject
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. capital — money
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. pass — a permit
  8. capital — a city
  9. hand — help
  10. stock — shares
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. hand — in cards
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. field — farmland
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. field — for 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