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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. cell — a phone
  4. row — to paddle
  5. row — a line
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. stock — shares
  9. wound — an injury
  10. bass — low music
  11. bound — tied together
  12. wound — an injury
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. capital — money
  15. capital — a city
  16. bound — certain
  17. cell — in biology
  18. bound — obliged
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. stock — goods
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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