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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. stock — goods
  3. court — of law
  4. capital — money
  5. game — wild animals
  6. track — to keep track
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. track — a song
  9. track — a path
  10. stock — shares
  11. fall — to drop
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. staff — a stick
  14. court — for sport
  15. fall — the season
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. fall — to drop
  18. court — of a king
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. capital — a city
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. staff — employees
  23. game — a match
  24. capital — a big letter

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