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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. stock — goods
  3. race — humankind
  4. face — to confront
  5. stock — shares
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. chip — to eat
  8. chest — of your body
  9. file — a document
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. file — a tool
  12. chest — of your body
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. file — a line of people
  15. capital — a city
  16. face — to point toward
  17. chest — a box
  18. capital — money
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. chip — for betting
  22. race — the arms race
  23. face — part of the head
  24. race — a contest

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