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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. capital — a city
  4. pop — soda
  5. march — the month
  6. snap — to click
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. mine — for digging
  9. mug — a cup
  10. stock — goods
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. pop — to visit
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. stock — shares
  15. march — the month
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. bear — the animal
  18. capital — money
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. march — music
  21. pop — music
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. mug — to rob
  24. bear — the animal

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