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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: capital · stock · pop · season · straw · net · swing · pitch

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  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. swing — to play on
  2. pop — music
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. stock — shares
  5. net — in sport
  6. swing — music
  7. capital — a city
  8. stock — goods
  9. swing — in golf
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. net — for catching
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. pitch — completely
  14. capital — money
  15. net — after costs
  16. season — in sport
  17. pop — soda
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. season — of the year
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. pitch — a sports field
  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