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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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. press — a publisher
  3. press — to push
  4. capital — a city
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. root — of a word
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. degree — an amount
  12. bound — obliged
  13. bound — certain
  14. degree — from a university
  15. press — newspapers
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. degree — temperature
  18. stock — shares
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. root — the cause
  21. capital — money
  22. root — of a plant
  23. bound — tied together
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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