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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. land — ground
  3. kick — in football
  4. stock — shares
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. cap — a lid
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. race — a contest
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. land — a country
  11. prune — to trim
  12. stock — goods
  13. capital — money
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. land — to come down
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. race — humankind
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. cap — a hat
  20. prune — to trim
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. race — the arms race
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. cap — of ice

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