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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. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — for measuring
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. cap — of ice
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. cap — a hat
  9. field — a subject
  10. cap — a lid
  11. game — wild animals
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. capital — a city
  14. field — farmland
  15. stock — goods
  16. field — for sport
  17. content — happy
  18. date — the fruit
  19. content — the amount
  20. capital — money
  21. game — a match
  22. ruler — a monarch
  23. stock — shares
  24. ruler — for measuring

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