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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 116 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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. dip — to sink
  3. track — to keep track
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. track — a path
  6. stock — shares
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. capital — money
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. prune — to trim
  13. stock — goods
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. track — a song
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. capital — a city
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. mine — for digging
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. dip — a sauce

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