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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: rash · stock · land · field · capital · dip · key · wind

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. field — a subject
  3. key — in music
  4. rash — a series
  5. dip — to sink
  6. field — farmland
  7. rash — hasty
  8. land — ground
  9. wind — moving air
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. key — the most important part
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. stock — goods
  14. land — to come down
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. capital — a city
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. field — for sport
  20. capital — money
  21. stock — shares
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. land — a country
  24. key — for a lock

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