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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're almost out of ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. bank — of a river
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. bat — the animal
  8. capital — money
  9. date — the fruit
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. pop — music
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. capital — a city
  16. bank — for money
  17. stock — shares
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. pop — to visit
  20. stock — goods
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — not warm
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. bank — for money

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