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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. stock — shares
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. chest — of your body
  6. board — to get on
  7. scale — size or range
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. chest — a box
  10. spell — letters
  11. stock — goods
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. spell — magic
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. chest — of your body
  20. scale — in music
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. spell — a short time
  23. board — a committee
  24. capital — money

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