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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. capital — a city
  4. club — for golf
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. dip — to sink
  7. last — to go on
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. last — final
  10. stock — shares
  11. mine — for digging
  12. field — for sport
  13. stock — goods
  14. pitch — completely
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. field — farmland
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. field — a subject
  20. last — finally
  21. club — a group
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. capital — money
  24. capital — a big letter

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