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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. scale — in music
  3. stock — shares
  4. capital — a city
  5. spell — magic
  6. spell — letters
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. rest — what's left
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. branch — a division
  13. rest — what's left
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. stock — goods
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. march — music
  19. rest — a break
  20. spell — a short time
  21. pass — a permit
  22. march — the month
  23. scale — size or range
  24. march — the month

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