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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. wound — an injury
  4. kick — in football
  5. tube — the underground
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. stock — goods
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. wound — an injury
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. court — for sport
  12. season — in sport
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. capital — a city
  17. tube — a container
  18. capital — money
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. stock — shares
  22. court — of a king
  23. season — of the year
  24. court — of law

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