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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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Word bank
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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: capital · rule · mark · chair · current · stock · cold · toast

  1. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. capital — money
  3. capital — a city
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — an illness
  8. chair — a leader
  9. stock — goods
  10. toast — bread
  11. mark — a trace
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. stock — shares
  15. current — happening now
  16. mark — a grade
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. rule — government
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. rule — a law
  23. current — of water
  24. rule — to rule out

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