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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. stock — goods
  5. face — to point toward
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. face — part of the head
  9. court — of a king
  10. court — for sport
  11. face — to confront
  12. scale — in music
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. stock — shares
  15. chair — a leader
  16. pop — to visit
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. capital — a city
  19. court — of law
  20. pop — music
  21. capital — money
  22. pop — soda
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. scale — for weighing

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