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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 ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. wind — moving air
  3. capital — money
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. land — a country
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. capital — a city
  8. root — of a plant
  9. root — the cause
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. stock — goods
  13. chip — to eat
  14. bound — obliged
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. bound — certain
  18. bound — tied together
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. land — ground
  21. root — of a word
  22. chip — for betting
  23. wind — moving air
  24. land — to come down

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