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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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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: tear · deal · rush · capital · fork · stock · squash · race

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. capital — money
  3. squash — to crush
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. rush — hurry
  7. deal — to handle
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. race — a contest
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. stock — shares
  14. tear — to rip
  15. race — humankind
  16. tear — from crying
  17. squash — the sport
  18. capital — a city
  19. stock — goods
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. tear — from crying
  22. fork — in a road
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. race — the arms race

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