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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. stock — goods
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. stock — shares
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. present — there
  9. club — for dancing
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. sharp — clever
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. tube — the underground
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. club — for golf
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. game — wild animals
  19. present — the time now
  20. capital — a city
  21. capital — money
  22. club — a group
  23. game — a match
  24. tube — a container

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