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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. stock — shares
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. band — a ring
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. stock — goods
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. degree — from a university
  11. degree — temperature
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. capital — a city
  15. wind — moving air
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. snap — to click
  18. capital — money
  19. wind — moving air
  20. band — a music group
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. degree — an amount
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. fine — high quality

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