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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: bat · mark · fall · fine · capital · stock · row · cell

  1. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. fall — the season
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. cell — a phone
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. fine — high quality
  8. fall — to drop
  9. row — a line
  10. bat — the animal
  11. cell — in biology
  12. capital — a city
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. stock — shares
  16. fine — all right
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. capital — money
  19. fall — to drop
  20. mark — a grade
  21. stock — goods
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. row — to paddle

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