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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 116 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 am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. tear — from crying
  4. march — the month
  5. march — music
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. capital — a city
  8. court — of law
  9. stock — goods
  10. race — the arms race
  11. bass — the fish
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. court — for sport
  15. march — the month
  16. stock — shares
  17. bass — low music
  18. court — of a king
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. race — humankind
  21. race — a contest
  22. tear — to rip
  23. capital — money
  24. tear — from crying

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