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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 116 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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. capital — a city
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. race — humankind
  10. field — a subject
  11. capital — money
  12. field — for sport
  13. race — a contest
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. row — to paddle
  16. row — a line
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. stock — shares
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. field — farmland
  22. rush — hurry
  23. race — the arms race
  24. stock — goods

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