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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: lash · root · court · capital · ruler · chair · stock · field

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. chair — a leader
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. stock — shares
  6. court — for sport
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. field — a subject
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. root — of a word
  13. root — the cause
  14. capital — money
  15. stock — goods
  16. court — of law
  17. field — for sport
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. field — farmland
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. court — of a king
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. root — of a plant

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