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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. hand — in cards
  3. ball — a dance
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. march — the month
  6. capital — money
  7. spring — the season
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. march — the month
  11. hand — help
  12. wax — to grow
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. rock — music
  15. stock — shares
  16. capital — a city
  17. spring — of water
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. ball — a great time
  21. rock — a stone
  22. spring — a coil
  23. march — music
  24. stock — goods

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