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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. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. stock — goods
  4. file — a line of people
  5. court — for sport
  6. spring — a coil
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. capital — money
  10. stock — shares
  11. court — of law
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. ground — the earth
  14. spring — of water
  15. ground — crushed
  16. capital — a city
  17. ground — a position
  18. court — of a king
  19. mark — a grade
  20. file — a document
  21. spring — the season
  22. bore — to tire
  23. file — a tool
  24. bore — to drill

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