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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: dip · content · wound · key · cold · capital · clip · stock

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. stock — shares
  3. clip — for paper
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. content — the amount
  8. cold — an illness
  9. capital — money
  10. key — in music
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. clip — a video
  14. wound — an injury
  15. content — happy
  16. capital — a city
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. clip — to cut
  19. wound — an injury
  20. dip — to sink
  21. key — the most important part
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. cold — not warm
  24. key — for a lock

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