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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: cell · stock · root · capital · land · bat · fork · fan

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. land — to come down
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. land — ground
  5. capital — a city
  6. stock — shares
  7. cell — a phone
  8. root — of a word
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. root — of a plant
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. cell — in biology
  14. root — the cause
  15. bat — the animal
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. stock — goods
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. fork — in a road
  21. land — a country
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. capital — money
  24. stock — a soup base

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