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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: capital · stock · bat · foot · rash · bulb · row · land

  1. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. land — ground
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. capital — money
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. stock — goods
  9. capital — a city
  10. rash — hasty
  11. rash — a series
  12. bat — the animal
  13. land — a country
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. foot — a measure
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. bulb — for light
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. row — a line
  21. stock — shares
  22. bulb — for light
  23. row — to paddle
  24. land — to come down

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