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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. fall — to drop
  3. mug — a face
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. rush — hurry
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. capital — money
  8. mug — to rob
  9. fall — the season
  10. stock — shares
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. stock — goods
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. deal — to handle
  18. mug — a cup
  19. stem — to come from
  20. cold — not warm
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. cold — an illness
  24. fall — to drop

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