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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. cold — not warm
  4. file — a line of people
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. file — a document
  7. drill — army training
  8. staff — a stick
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. stock — goods
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. rule — government
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. stock — shares
  16. cold — an illness
  17. staff — employees
  18. file — a tool
  19. staff — employees
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. capital — a city
  22. drill — a practice
  23. rule — a law
  24. drill — the tool

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