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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 116 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: kid · land · capital · season · swing · stock · scale · craft

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. stock — shares
  5. craft — a skill
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. capital — money
  8. scale — in music
  9. kid — child
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. land — a country
  12. land — ground
  13. scale — size or range
  14. swing — to play on
  15. swing — in golf
  16. craft — boats
  17. capital — a city
  18. swing — music
  19. kid — to tease
  20. season — of the year
  21. season — in sport
  22. land — to come down
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. craft — a handicraft

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