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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: wound · capital · pit · stock · kid · press · wind · bass

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bass — low music
  4. bass — the fish
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. press — a publisher
  7. capital — money
  8. wound — an injury
  9. pit — in a race
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wind — moving air
  12. kid — child
  13. capital — a city
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. stock — shares
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. press — to push
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. press — newspapers
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. pit — a hole
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. wind — moving air

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