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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: firm · root · stock · drill · capital · cell · cold · land

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. stock — shares
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. land — a country
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. land — ground
  8. drill — army training
  9. cell — a phone
  10. root — the cause
  11. cold — an illness
  12. firm — steady
  13. firm — decided
  14. land — to come down
  15. root — of a plant
  16. stock — goods
  17. capital — a city
  18. cell — in biology
  19. root — of a word
  20. drill — the tool
  21. firm — a company
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. drill — a practice
  24. capital — money

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