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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: safe · capital · stock · spring · game · clip · scale · wake

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom 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. game — a kind of play
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. game — wild animals
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. wake — a trail
  7. safe — a strongbox
  8. game — a match
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. clip — for paper
  12. capital — money
  13. spring — a coil
  14. scale — in music
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. stock — shares
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — a video
  20. stock — goods
  21. spring — of water
  22. scale — size or range
  23. spring — the season
  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