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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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. stock — shares
  3. ground — a position
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. kid — to tease
  6. rule — government
  7. rule — a law
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. tear — from crying
  10. ground — crushed
  11. tear — from crying
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. stock — goods
  15. game — a match
  16. mark — a trace
  17. game — wild animals
  18. tear — to rip
  19. capital — money
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. ground — the earth
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. capital — a city
  24. kid — child

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