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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. land — to come down
  3. land — ground
  4. stock — shares
  5. mine — for digging
  6. wake — a trail
  7. capital — money
  8. race — a contest
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. capital — a city
  11. spell — letters
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. race — the arms race
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. tube — a container
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. tube — the underground
  19. spell — a short time
  20. race — humankind
  21. spell — magic
  22. land — a country
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. capital — a big letter

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