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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: lash · capital · chest · land · degree · stock · cabinet · rest

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. rest — a break
  5. capital — a city
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. chest — a box
  8. chest — of your body
  9. stock — shares
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. land — ground
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. degree — from a university
  14. rest — what's left
  15. chest — of your body
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. capital — money
  18. degree — an amount
  19. stock — goods
  20. rest — what's left
  21. land — a country
  22. degree — temperature
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. stock — a soup base

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