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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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. drill — a practice
  3. wake — a trail
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. present — there
  7. march — the month
  8. drill — army training
  9. stock — shares
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. present — a gift
  14. capital — money
  15. vault — a safe
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. drill — the tool
  18. march — the month
  19. march — music
  20. present — the time now
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. hand — in cards
  23. capital — a city
  24. hand — help

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