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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 · hand · stock · perch · net · object · row · season

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. season — of the year
  4. stock — goods
  5. capital — money
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. season — in sport
  8. capital — a city
  9. hand — help
  10. row — a line
  11. object — to protest
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. net — after costs
  15. object — an aim
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. net — in sport
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. stock — shares
  20. net — for catching
  21. row — to paddle
  22. hand — in cards
  23. object — a thing
  24. perch — the fish

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