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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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468
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: fan · track · stock · wind · bulb · chip · hand · march

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. march — the month
  3. march — the month
  4. chip — to eat
  5. track — to keep track
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. track — a path
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. hand — in cards
  11. track — a song
  12. chip — for betting
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. march — music
  16. stock — goods
  17. stock — shares
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. bulb — for light
  21. wind — moving air
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. bulb — for light
  24. fan — a supporter

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