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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. march — the month
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. stock — goods
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. chest — a box
  9. can — a tin
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. can — a tin
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. capital — a city
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. can — to be able to
  16. chest — of your body
  17. march — the month
  18. wake — a trail
  19. march — music
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. chest — of your body
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. stock — shares

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