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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 116 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 dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. capital — a city
  3. wound — an injury
  4. board — to get on
  5. stock — shares
  6. deal — to handle
  7. cold — not warm
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. board — a committee
  10. shower — to wash
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. squash — to crush
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. squash — the sport
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. capital — money
  18. wound — an injury
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. shower — rain
  21. stock — goods
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. cold — an illness

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