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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. capital — a city
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. band — a music group
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. cell — in biology
  8. scale — size or range
  9. stock — shares
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. deal — to handle
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. band — a ring
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. scale — in music
  18. capital — money
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. stock — goods
  21. pitch — completely
  22. date — the fruit
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. date — on the calendar

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