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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. ground — crushed
  4. rest — a break
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. stock — goods
  7. capital — money
  8. capital — a city
  9. rest — what's left
  10. tear — to rip
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. tear — from crying
  13. ground — a position
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. row — a line
  16. rest — what's left
  17. tear — from crying
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. rule — government
  21. row — to paddle
  22. stock — shares
  23. ground — the earth
  24. rule — a law

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