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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. stock — shares
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. capital — a city
  5. can — to be able to
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. race — a contest
  9. court — of a king
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. last — final
  12. mark — a trace
  13. last — finally
  14. mark — a grade
  15. race — humankind
  16. can — a tin
  17. race — the arms race
  18. wax — to grow
  19. court — of law
  20. capital — money
  21. can — a tin
  22. stock — goods
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. last — to go on

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