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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. rock — music
  3. stock — goods
  4. capital — money
  5. stock — shares
  6. rock — a stone
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. capital — a city
  9. bear — the animal
  10. kid — child
  11. deal — to handle
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. band — a music group
  14. kid — to tease
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. bear — the animal
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. scale — in music
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. scale — size or range
  24. deal — a big deal

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