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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 assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. chest — of your body
  3. drill — the tool
  4. chest — of your body
  5. fine — high quality
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. stock — goods
  8. drill — a practice
  9. ground — the earth
  10. row — to paddle
  11. drill — army training
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. capital — money
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. stock — shares
  16. capital — a city
  17. chest — a box
  18. cue — for pool
  19. row — a line
  20. cue — a signal
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. ground — a position
  23. cue — a hint
  24. ground — crushed

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