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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. capital — money
  4. stock — shares
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. stock — goods
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. stem — to come from
  10. file — a document
  11. capital — a city
  12. chip — for betting
  13. mug — to rob
  14. mug — a cup
  15. prune — to trim
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. chip — to eat
  19. file — a line of people
  20. mug — a face
  21. prune — to trim
  22. file — a tool
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. mine — for digging

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