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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. kid — child
  4. stock — goods
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. capital — money
  8. spring — a coil
  9. spring — the season
  10. court — for sport
  11. capital — a city
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. bulb — for light
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. court — of law
  16. spring — of water
  17. court — of a king
  18. chest — of your body
  19. kid — to tease
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. bulb — for light
  22. chest — a box
  23. stock — shares
  24. chest — of your body

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