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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 party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. stock — shares
  3. last — to go on
  4. capital — a city
  5. cold — an illness
  6. last — final
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. spring — the season
  10. cold — not warm
  11. rash — hasty
  12. last — finally
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. spring — a coil
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. spring — of water
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. stock — goods
  22. pound — a weight
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. capital — money

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