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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. stock — shares
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. cell — a phone
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. firm — steady
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. stock — goods
  9. firm — decided
  10. squash — the sport
  11. squash — to crush
  12. ground — a position
  13. board — a committee
  14. cell — in biology
  15. firm — a company
  16. march — music
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. capital — money
  19. ground — crushed
  20. board — to get on
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. march — the month
  23. capital — a city
  24. ground — the earth

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