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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: stock · chair · capital · ground · game · track · plane · net

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. capital — a city
  4. net — in sport
  5. ground — a position
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. plane — a tool
  8. capital — money
  9. net — after costs
  10. track — a path
  11. track — a song
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. stock — goods
  14. chair — a leader
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. stock — shares
  17. track — to keep track
  18. net — for catching
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. game — wild animals
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. ground — crushed
  24. ground — the earth

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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