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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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. net — in sport
  3. net — after costs
  4. court — of a king
  5. stock — shares
  6. capital — a city
  7. fork — in a road
  8. bulb — for light
  9. rash — a series
  10. stock — goods
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. object — to protest
  14. rash — hasty
  15. court — for sport
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. net — for catching
  18. bulb — for light
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. object — a thing
  21. court — of law
  22. object — an aim
  23. capital — money
  24. stock — a soup base

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