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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 116 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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. rest — what's left
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. cap — a hat
  5. capital — a city
  6. file — a line of people
  7. cap — a lid
  8. capital — money
  9. rest — what's left
  10. squash — to crush
  11. bank — for money
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. stock — goods
  14. stock — shares
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. file — a tool
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. cap — of ice
  21. bank — of a river
  22. file — a document
  23. squash — the sport
  24. bank — for 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