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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 120 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 ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. vault — a safe
  3. capital — a city
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. cap — a lid
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. stock — goods
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. capital — money
  14. cap — a hat
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. wind — moving air
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. cap — of ice
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. wind — moving air

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