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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. game — a match
  3. game — wild animals
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. bass — low music
  6. capital — a city
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. stock — shares
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. stock — goods
  12. bass — the fish
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. capital — money
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. wax — to grow
  24. date — the fruit

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