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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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. capital — a city
  3. prune — to trim
  4. game — a match
  5. stock — shares
  6. mine — for digging
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. prune — to trim
  10. tube — a container
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. stock — goods
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. game — wild animals
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. tube — the underground
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. capital — money
  21. mark — a grade
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. mark — a trace
  24. stock — a soup base

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