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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: pop · stock · kick · tube · bat · sharp · spell · capital

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. spell — letters
  3. stock — goods
  4. kick — in football
  5. spell — magic
  6. capital — money
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. capital — a city
  9. spell — a short time
  10. tube — the underground
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. bat — the animal
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. stock — shares
  19. sharp — clever
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. pop — soda
  22. pop — music
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. pop — to visit

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