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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
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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: arm · stock · cabinet · fan · tube · court · field · spring

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. court — of law
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. field — for sport
  6. spring — the season
  7. spring — of water
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. court — of a king
  12. tube — the underground
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. field — a subject
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. field — farmland
  18. tube — a container
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. stock — shares
  21. court — for sport
  22. spring — a coil
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. stock — goods

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