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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. face — part of the head
  4. key — the most important part
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. stock — goods
  7. face — to confront
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. face — to point toward
  10. capital — a city
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. foot — a measure
  14. key — in music
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. cold — not warm
  17. key — for a lock
  18. capital — money
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. cold — an illness

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