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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. firm — a company
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. stock — goods
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. kid — to tease
  10. stock — shares
  11. mate — to breed
  12. clip — a video
  13. chip — for betting
  14. chip — to eat
  15. capital — a city
  16. kid — child
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. mate — a partner
  19. stem — to come from
  20. mate — a friend
  21. firm — steady
  22. clip — to cut
  23. firm — decided
  24. clip — for paper

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