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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: hand · bound · stock · bat · fall · current · wind · fan

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. hand — help
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. hand — in cards
  5. stock — goods
  6. fall — the season
  7. bound — certain
  8. bat — the animal
  9. current — happening now
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bound — tied together
  14. fall — to drop
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. current — of water
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. wind — moving air
  20. current — electric
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bound — obliged
  23. fall — to drop
  24. 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