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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. capital — a city
  3. capital — money
  4. band — a ring
  5. tube — a container
  6. land — to come down
  7. chip — to eat
  8. chip — for betting
  9. land — ground
  10. tube — the underground
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. object — a thing
  13. stock — shares
  14. plane — a tool
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. stock — goods
  17. land — a country
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. object — to protest
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. band — a music group
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. object — an aim

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