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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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. capital — a city
  4. net — after costs
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. stock — shares
  7. hand — help
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. cue — a hint
  10. net — in sport
  11. cue — for pool
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. firm — a company
  14. stock — goods
  15. net — for catching
  16. firm — steady
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. stem — to come from
  20. hand — in cards
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. firm — decided
  23. cue — a signal
  24. capital — money

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