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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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. fine — all right
  3. vault — a safe
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. court — for sport
  8. court — of a king
  9. fine — high quality
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. kid — child
  12. shower — rain
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. shower — to wash
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. court — of law
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. kid — to tease
  19. capital — money
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. capital — a city
  22. stock — shares
  23. stock — goods
  24. fine — a penalty

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