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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. mate — a friend
  3. scale — in music
  4. ball — a dance
  5. scale — size or range
  6. stock — shares
  7. ball — a great time
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. content — the amount
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. capital — a city
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. content — happy
  15. mate — to breed
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. stock — goods
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. capital — money
  20. shower — to wash
  21. mate — a partner
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. shower — rain
  24. ball — a round shape

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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