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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. swing — in golf
  3. march — the month
  4. stock — goods
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. swing — to play on
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. march — the month
  10. stock — shares
  11. current — electric
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. capital — money
  14. current — happening now
  15. saw — the tool
  16. scale — in music
  17. march — music
  18. cold — an illness
  19. saw — the tool
  20. current — of water
  21. capital — a city
  22. swing — music
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — the Cold War

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