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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. row — a line
  3. fall — to drop
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. capital — a city
  9. row — to paddle
  10. mug — to rob
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. fall — the season
  13. squash — to crush
  14. wind — moving air
  15. mug — a cup
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. wind — moving air
  18. capital — money
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. stock — goods
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. mug — a face
  23. squash — the sport
  24. fall — to drop

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