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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. capital — a city
  5. object — a thing
  6. object — to protest
  7. content — the amount
  8. object — an aim
  9. stock — goods
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. capital — money
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. scale — size or range
  16. scale — in music
  17. field — a subject
  18. content — happy
  19. field — for sport
  20. field — farmland
  21. rush — hurry
  22. stock — shares
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. rush — to hurry

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