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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: clip · ruler · fan · lash · capital · rush · field · stock

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. stock — goods
  4. field — a subject
  5. capital — money
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. stock — shares
  8. clip — a video
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. capital — a city
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. field — farmland
  15. rush — hurry
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. clip — for paper
  18. field — for sport
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. ruler — a monarch
  24. clip — to cut

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