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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. capital — money
  3. foot — a measure
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. face — to confront
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. kid — to tease
  10. face — to point toward
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. face — part of the head
  13. spring — a coil
  14. kid — child
  15. spring — the season
  16. capital — a city
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. stock — shares
  21. stock — goods
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. rush — hurry
  24. spring — of water

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