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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. ground — the earth
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. tube — a container
  6. ground — a position
  7. land — ground
  8. cold — not warm
  9. capital — a city
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. cold — an illness
  13. land — a country
  14. land — to come down
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. stock — goods
  17. row — to paddle
  18. capital — money
  19. stand — to bear
  20. stock — shares
  21. tube — the underground
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. row — a line
  24. capital — a big letter

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