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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: mine · bay · stock · capital · snap · wind · pop · date

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. stock — goods
  3. stock — shares
  4. date — the fruit
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. pop — soda
  7. pop — music
  8. capital — a city
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. snap — to click
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. wind — moving air
  18. pop — to visit
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. wind — moving air
  23. capital — money
  24. mine — for digging

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