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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: bulb · wind · kid · stock · club · capital

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. kid — child
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. capital — a city
  5. bulb — for light
  6. stock — goods
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. club — for golf
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. kid — to tease
  12. bulb — for light
  13. capital — money
  14. club — a group
  15. wind — moving air
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. club — for dancing
  18. stock — shares

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