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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. file — a line of people
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. squash — the sport
  10. file — a tool
  11. rush — hurry
  12. field — for sport
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. field — a subject
  16. stock — shares
  17. capital — a city
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. field — farmland
  21. stock — goods
  22. squash — to crush
  23. file — a document
  24. arm — a part of something

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