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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. stock — shares
  3. rash — a series
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. rash — hasty
  7. shower — rain
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. last — to go on
  10. last — final
  11. clip — to cut
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. shower — to wash
  14. stock — goods
  15. last — finally
  16. net — in sport
  17. net — after costs
  18. capital — a city
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. clip — a video
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. clip — for paper
  23. net — for catching
  24. capital — money

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