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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. race — humankind
  4. stock — goods
  5. kick — in football
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. squash — to crush
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. land — ground
  10. race — a contest
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — of your body
  14. capital — a city
  15. race — the arms race
  16. land — a country
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. chest — a box
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. squash — the sport
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. capital — money
  24. stock — shares

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