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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. dip — to sink
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. capital — a city
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. stock — goods
  7. capital — money
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. cold — not warm
  13. stock — shares
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. cold — an illness
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. rock — a stone
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. stem — to come from
  23. vault — a safe
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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