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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 116 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 do you think of the new ________________?
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  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. cabinet — ministers
  2. stock — shares
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. tear — from crying
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. march — the month
  7. fork — in a road
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — to rip
  10. capital — a city
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. march — the month
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. march — music
  15. spring — the season
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spring — of water
  19. cap — of ice
  20. cap — a lid
  21. cap — a hat
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. capital — money
  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