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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. stock — shares
  3. capital — money
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. game — wild animals
  6. capital — a city
  7. game — a match
  8. kid — child
  9. current — of water
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. bank — of a river
  12. wind — moving air
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. current — happening now
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. sharp — clever
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. current — electric
  19. bank — for money
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bank — for money
  23. stock — goods
  24. wind — to turn a key

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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