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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. stock — goods
  3. capital — money
  4. cue — a signal
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. pop — soda
  7. spring — of water
  8. band — a music group
  9. capital — a city
  10. cue — for pool
  11. band — a ring
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. last — finally
  14. cue — a hint
  15. spring — the season
  16. pop — music
  17. last — to go on
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. pop — to visit
  20. stock — shares
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. spring — a coil

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