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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. ground — crushed
  4. capital — money
  5. stock — shares
  6. face — part of the head
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. ground — the earth
  10. clip — a video
  11. pit — a hole
  12. pit — in a race
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. pop — soda
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. stock — goods
  17. clip — for paper
  18. clip — to cut
  19. capital — a city
  20. face — to point toward
  21. ground — a position
  22. pop — to visit
  23. face — to confront
  24. arm — a part of something

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