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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: fan · court · capital · chest · snap · stock · mouse · clip

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. clip — to cut
  3. clip — a video
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. chest — of your body
  7. capital — money
  8. clip — for paper
  9. stock — shares
  10. chest — a box
  11. snap — to click
  12. court — of a king
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. court — of law
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. chest — of your body
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. court — for sport
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. capital — a city
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. mouse — the animal

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