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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 dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. stock — shares
  3. pit — a hole
  4. pit — in a race
  5. last — final
  6. lean — to bend
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — to cut
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. lean — thin
  12. last — to go on
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. capital — a city
  15. capital — money
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. last — finally
  18. degree — from a university
  19. shower — rain
  20. degree — temperature
  21. shower — to wash
  22. stock — goods
  23. clip — for paper
  24. degree — an amount

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