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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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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: bank · fork · cue · cold · rule · stock · capital · arm

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. bank — for money
  3. capital — a city
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — not warm
  6. bank — of a river
  7. cue — a signal
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. stock — goods
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. bank — for money
  14. stock — shares
  15. rule — a law
  16. capital — money
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. fork — in a road
  19. cue — a hint
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. cue — for pool
  24. fork — to eat with

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