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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 120 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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  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. sharp — clever
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. pit — a hole
  4. stock — shares
  5. land — a country
  6. lean — thin
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. hand — help
  10. hand — in cards
  11. capital — money
  12. row — a line
  13. land — to come down
  14. land — ground
  15. lean — to bend
  16. pit — in a race
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. stock — goods
  20. row — to paddle
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. capital — a city
  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