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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 120 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: sharp · capital · row · pitcher · lie · hand · stock · drill

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. row — a line
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. sharp — clever
  7. stock — shares
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. row — to paddle
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. hand — in cards
  15. capital — a city
  16. lie — to recline
  17. hand — help
  18. drill — army training
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. drill — a practice
  21. drill — the tool
  22. stock — goods
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. sharp — with an edge

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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