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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 120 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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. capital — a city
  3. stock — shares
  4. band — a music group
  5. stem — to come from
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. season — of the year
  8. stock — goods
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. band — a ring
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. land — a country
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. season — in sport
  16. land — ground
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. dip — to sink
  21. capital — money
  22. land — to come down
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. chair — a leader

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