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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. capital — money
  5. swing — to play on
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. pound — a weight
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. lean — to bend
  15. stock — shares
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. swing — music
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. capital — a city
  22. bat — the animal
  23. swing — in golf
  24. lean — thin

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