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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: kid · stock · tear · vault · band · capital

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. band — a ring
  3. stock — goods
  4. capital — a city
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — to rip
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. kid — to tease
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. tear — from crying
  14. capital — money
  15. band — a music group
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. vault — a safe
  18. kid — child

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