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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 120 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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. snap — to click
  3. wake — a trail
  4. stock — goods
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. kick — in football
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. fine — all right
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. fine — high quality
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. shower — to wash
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. cell — a phone
  19. cell — in biology
  20. capital — money
  21. stock — shares
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. shower — rain
  24. cell — in a prison

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