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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. pit — in a race
  3. row — a line
  4. capital — a city
  5. face — to confront
  6. stock — shares
  7. rule — a law
  8. face — to point toward
  9. pit — a hole
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. firm — decided
  12. game — a match
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. firm — steady
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. capital — money
  17. rule — government
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. stock — goods
  22. face — part of the head
  23. firm — a company
  24. row — to paddle

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