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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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468
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: object · scale · ground · capital · chip · stock · wound · spring

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. spring — of water
  3. scale — size or range
  4. stock — shares
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. chip — to eat
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. wound — an injury
  10. capital — a city
  11. object — an aim
  12. stock — goods
  13. wound — an injury
  14. object — a thing
  15. spring — the season
  16. ground — a position
  17. scale — in music
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. capital — money
  20. ground — the earth
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. chip — for betting
  23. object — to protest
  24. spring — a coil

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