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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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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: wound · pit · snap · stock · capital · tear · face · present

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. present — a gift
  3. face — to confront
  4. face — to point toward
  5. present — the time now
  6. tear — to rip
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. face — part of the head
  10. wound — an injury
  11. pit — a hole
  12. tear — from crying
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. capital — a city
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. tear — from crying
  18. wound — an injury
  19. stock — goods
  20. stock — shares
  21. snap — to click
  22. pit — in a race
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. present — there

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