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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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. current — of water
  3. capital — a city
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. file — a document
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. stock — shares
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. current — electric
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. capital — money
  14. cell — in biology
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. foot — a measure
  18. cell — a phone
  19. stock — goods
  20. scale — size or range
  21. scale — in music
  22. file — a line of people
  23. current — happening now
  24. file — a tool

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