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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.

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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 · chest · net · fan · squash · season · stock · key

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. net — after costs
  3. capital — a city
  4. squash — the sport
  5. stock — goods
  6. key — for a lock
  7. capital — money
  8. season — of the year
  9. stock — shares
  10. net — for catching
  11. key — the most important part
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — of your body
  15. net — in sport
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. key — in music
  18. squash — to crush
  19. season — in sport
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. chest — a box

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