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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. squash — the sport
  3. net — after costs
  4. saw — the tool
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. snap — to click
  9. stock — goods
  10. capital — money
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. net — for catching
  15. saw — the tool
  16. stock — shares
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. mark — a grade
  19. wax — to grow
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. squash — to crush
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. net — in sport
  24. mark — a trace

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