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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 · roll · hide · chest · file · stock · pop · ground

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. stock — shares
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. capital — money
  5. capital — a city
  6. ground — crushed
  7. stock — goods
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. file — a tool
  10. chest — of your body
  11. ground — the earth
  12. chest — of your body
  13. file — a document
  14. roll — a cake
  15. ground — a position
  16. file — a line of people
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. pop — soda
  19. pop — music
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. roll — a list
  22. pop — to visit
  23. chest — a box
  24. stock — a soup base

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