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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. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. capital — money
  4. firm — steady
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. rest — what's left
  7. clip — a video
  8. spring — of water
  9. rest — a break
  10. clip — for paper
  11. capital — a city
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. spring — a coil
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. spring — the season
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. stock — goods
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. rest — what's left
  20. sharp — clever
  21. stock — shares
  22. clip — to cut
  23. firm — decided
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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