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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 116 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: pop · cold · bay · bat · stock · kick · capital · lie

  1. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. pop — music
  3. cold — an illness
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. bat — the animal
  6. kick — in football
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. capital — money
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. lie — to recline
  11. pop — soda
  12. stock — goods
  13. pop — to visit
  14. cold — not warm
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. stock — shares
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. capital — a city

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