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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 124 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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. fine — all right
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. stock — shares
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. firm — decided
  7. court — of law
  8. staff — employees
  9. scale — size or range
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. stock — goods
  12. staff — a stick
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. firm — a company
  15. court — for sport
  16. cold — an illness
  17. firm — steady
  18. cold — not warm
  19. staff — employees
  20. capital — money
  21. fine — high quality
  22. court — of a king
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. scale — in music

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