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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  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. stock — a soup base
  2. stock — goods
  3. saw — the tool
  4. saw — the tool
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. row — a line
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. mate — to breed
  9. rash — hasty
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. row — to paddle
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. mate — a friend
  16. pitch — completely
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. rash — a series
  19. mate — a partner
  20. stock — shares
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. capital — a city
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  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