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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: pop · ground · wound · capital · object · stock · staff · hand

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. capital — money
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. object — to protest
  5. stock — goods
  6. ground — a position
  7. pop — soda
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. pop — music
  10. staff — employees
  11. staff — a stick
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. wound — an injury
  14. staff — employees
  15. ground — the earth
  16. capital — a city
  17. wound — an injury
  18. hand — in cards
  19. pop — to visit
  20. ground — crushed
  21. object — a thing
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. object — an aim
  24. hand — help

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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