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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. stock — shares
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. stock — goods
  7. vault — a safe
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. track — a song
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. kid — to tease
  13. perch — the fish
  14. capital — a city
  15. capital — money
  16. squash — the sport
  17. track — to keep track
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. squash — to crush
  21. ground — crushed
  22. ground — a position
  23. ground — the earth
  24. track — a path

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