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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. chip — for betting
  3. bound — certain
  4. capital — money
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. rash — hasty
  9. field — farmland
  10. rash — a series
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. field — for sport
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. stock — shares
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. chip — to eat
  18. stock — goods
  19. field — a subject
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. mine — for digging
  22. capital — a city
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. bound — tied together

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