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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 · stock · pound · mug · object · spell · bowl · kid

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. mug — a cup
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. pound — a weight
  5. object — a thing
  6. spell — magic
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. kid — child
  9. mug — a face
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. object — an aim
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. capital — money
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. stock — goods
  17. kid — to tease
  18. mug — to rob
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. spell — letters
  21. spell — a short time
  22. capital — a city
  23. stock — shares
  24. bowl — a football final

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