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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. stock — goods
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. hand — help
  6. board — to get on
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. land — to come down
  9. dip — to sink
  10. capital — a city
  11. pound — a weight
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. hand — in cards
  18. board — a committee
  19. capital — money
  20. land — ground
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. stock — shares

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