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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: rest · charge · wound · capital · track · stock · net · hand

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. net — in sport
  3. wound — an injury
  4. track — a song
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. stock — goods
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. charge — a price
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. track — to keep track
  12. net — for catching
  13. capital — a city
  14. hand — in cards
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. capital — money
  17. rest — what's left
  18. charge — in control
  19. hand — help
  20. rest — what's left
  21. rest — a break
  22. stock — shares
  23. net — after costs
  24. track — a path

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