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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. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. charge — a price
  3. drill — the tool
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. rule — government
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. root — the cause
  8. charge — in control
  9. drill — a practice
  10. cold — an illness
  11. stand — to bear
  12. rule — a law
  13. root — of a plant
  14. stock — shares
  15. stock — goods
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. charge — electricity
  18. root — of a word
  19. drill — army training
  20. capital — a city
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. capital — money
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. cold — not warm

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