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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 ________________ market has crashed.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. bat — the animal
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. capital — money
  6. snap — to click
  7. root — the cause
  8. club — for dancing
  9. club — for golf
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. sharp — clever
  12. stock — goods
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. land — ground
  15. root — of a word
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. land — a country
  18. club — a group
  19. land — to come down
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. capital — a city
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. root — of a plant

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