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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: rock · stock · pound · scale · content · spell · capital · craft

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. pound — a weight
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. spell — letters
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. craft — boats
  8. craft — a skill
  9. capital — money
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. scale — size or range
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. stock — shares
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. capital — a city
  16. content — the amount
  17. spell — a short time
  18. content — happy
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. spell — magic
  21. scale — in music
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. rock — a stone
  24. rock — music

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