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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. last — to go on
  3. capital — a city
  4. club — for golf
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. stock — goods
  7. cold — an illness
  8. last — final
  9. present — there
  10. spell — letters
  11. stock — shares
  12. present — a gift
  13. club — a group
  14. capital — money
  15. spell — a short time
  16. club — for dancing
  17. spell — magic
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. last — finally
  20. present — the time now
  21. craft — boats
  22. craft — a skill
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. craft — a handicraft

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