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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. season — of the year
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. capital — a city
  6. track — a song
  7. capital — money
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. stock — goods
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bore — to tire
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. track — a path
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. bore — to drill
  16. track — to keep track
  17. fork — in a road
  18. stock — shares
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. season — in sport
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bore — gave birth

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