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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. capital — a city
  4. game — wild animals
  5. squash — to crush
  6. stock — goods
  7. squash — the sport
  8. land — to come down
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. game — a match
  13. drill — a practice
  14. wake — a trail
  15. drill — army training
  16. capital — money
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. drill — the tool
  19. stock — shares
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. land — ground
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. land — a country

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