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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 120 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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. last — final
  4. squash — the sport
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. last — finally
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. prune — to trim
  10. stock — shares
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. last — to go on
  13. current — of water
  14. stock — goods
  15. squash — to crush
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. current — electric
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. current — happening now
  21. chip — for betting
  22. chip — to eat
  23. capital — money
  24. prune — to trim

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