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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. stock — goods
  3. game — a match
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. race — humankind
  6. stock — shares
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. deal — to handle
  13. saw — the tool
  14. race — a contest
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. saw — the tool
  17. game — wild animals
  18. capital — money
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. content — the amount
  21. race — the arms race
  22. content — happy
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. capital — a city

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