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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. band — a music group
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. capital — a city
  5. stock — goods
  6. fine — high quality
  7. stock — shares
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. cold — not warm
  11. snap — to click
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. fine — all right
  15. band — a ring
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. cold — an illness
  20. capital — money
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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