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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 120 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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. stock — goods
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. stock — shares
  6. rest — a break
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. kick — in football
  10. capital — money
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. sharp — clever
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. game — a match
  18. rest — what's left
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. rest — what's left
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. capital — a city
  24. pitcher — a jug

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