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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. scale — in music
  3. bear — the animal
  4. capital — a city
  5. stock — shares
  6. chest — of your body
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. stock — goods
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. can — a tin
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. bat — the animal
  16. can — to be able to
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. chest — of your body
  20. bear — the animal
  21. scale — size or range
  22. capital — money
  23. can — a tin
  24. bat — for baseball

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