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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. mate — to breed
  4. prune — to trim
  5. vault — a safe
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. capital — a city
  8. mate — a friend
  9. prune — to trim
  10. mate — a partner
  11. bat — the animal
  12. present — a gift
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. wake — a trail
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. present — there
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. capital — money
  21. stock — shares
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. present — the time now
  24. bat — for baseball

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