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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. stock — shares
  3. march — music
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. march — the month
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. chest — of your body
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. rash — hasty
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. spell — magic
  14. pound — a weight
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. march — the month
  17. chest — a box
  18. stock — goods
  19. spell — letters
  20. rash — a series
  21. spell — a short time
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. capital — money
  24. capital — a city

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