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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. capital — a city
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. saw — the tool
  5. cap — a lid
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. stock — shares
  9. wind — moving air
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. wind — moving air
  12. plane — a tool
  13. rest — what's left
  14. saw — the tool
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. rest — what's left
  18. capital — money
  19. stock — goods
  20. sharp — clever
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. cap — of ice
  23. rest — a break
  24. sharp — with an edge

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