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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: chest · field · stock · pit · cue · cap · lie · capital

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. cap — a hat
  4. cap — a lid
  5. pit — a hole
  6. field — a subject
  7. cue — a hint
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. capital — money
  10. field — for sport
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. stock — shares
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. cue — a signal
  15. chest — a box
  16. cap — of ice
  17. cue — for pool
  18. capital — a city
  19. lie — to recline
  20. chest — of your body
  21. field — farmland
  22. pit — in a race
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. chest — of your body

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