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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. stock — goods
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cell — in biology
  6. face — part of the head
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. rock — music
  9. cell — a phone
  10. cold — not warm
  11. face — to confront
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. firm — decided
  14. face — to point toward
  15. stock — shares
  16. capital — a city
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. capital — money
  19. firm — a company
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. rock — a stone
  22. bass — low music
  23. cold — an illness
  24. firm — steady

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