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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. kid — child
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. capital — a city
  6. land — a country
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. ground — crushed
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. stock — shares
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. kid — to tease
  14. land — to come down
  15. land — ground
  16. branch — a division
  17. ground — a position
  18. ground — the earth
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. stock — goods
  21. cell — a phone
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. cell — in biology

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