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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. perch — the fish
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. fall — to drop
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. rule — government
  8. mate — to breed
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. stock — shares
  11. stock — goods
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. mate — a friend
  14. fall — to drop
  15. mate — a partner
  16. fall — the season
  17. rule — a law
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. capital — a city
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. perch — for a bird

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