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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. I'll take my ________________ from you.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. stock — goods
  6. cue — a signal
  7. degree — from a university
  8. degree — temperature
  9. cell — a phone
  10. chip — to eat
  11. degree — an amount
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. stock — shares
  14. cell — in biology
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. cue — for pool
  17. capital — a city
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. capital — money
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. chip — for betting
  24. cue — a hint

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