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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: tear · kid · stock · rule · mark · capital

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. capital — a city
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. stock — shares
  5. mark — a trace
  6. rule — government
  7. tear — from crying
  8. stock — goods
  9. capital — money
  10. rule — a law
  11. kid — to tease
  12. tear — to rip
  13. mark — a grade
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. kid — child
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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