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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. stock — shares
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. capital — money
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. tube — the underground
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. tube — a container
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. land — a country
  12. lie — to recline
  13. clip — to cut
  14. land — to come down
  15. land — ground
  16. chip — to eat
  17. chip — for betting
  18. clip — for paper
  19. stock — goods
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. clip — a video
  22. wake — a trail
  23. capital — a city
  24. chip — in a computer

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