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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. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. capital — a city
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. bank — for money
  6. prune — to trim
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — an illness
  10. stock — goods
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. stock — shares
  13. bank — for money
  14. vault — a safe
  15. prune — to trim
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. cold — not warm
  19. squash — to crush
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. squash — the sport
  23. capital — money
  24. pitch — completely

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