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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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. content — happy
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. capital — a city
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. content — the amount
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. capital — money
  14. squash — the sport
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. stock — shares
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. rash — a series
  22. rash — hasty
  23. squash — to crush
  24. pitch — completely

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