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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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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: stock · chair · fork · craft · wind · capital · arm · temple

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. wind — moving air
  4. craft — boats
  5. stock — shares
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. wind — moving air
  9. capital — money
  10. capital — a city
  11. chair — a leader
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. stock — goods
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. fork — in a road
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. craft — a skill
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. arm — a part of something

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