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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. press — a publisher
  5. key — in music
  6. key — for a lock
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. capital — money
  9. drill — the tool
  10. press — to push
  11. land — ground
  12. press — newspapers
  13. capital — a city
  14. stock — goods
  15. land — to come down
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. drill — army training
  19. drill — a practice
  20. land — a country
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. stock — shares
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. key — the most important part

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