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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 116 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 information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. capital — a city
  3. scale — in music
  4. ground — a position
  5. track — a path
  6. stem — to come from
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. file — a tool
  9. ground — the earth
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. track — to keep track
  12. stock — goods
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. capital — money
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. track — a song
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. stock — shares
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. file — a line of people
  22. ground — crushed
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. scale — size or range

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