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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. band — a music group
  3. content — the amount
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. game — a match
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. court — of law
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. court — for sport
  12. bat — the animal
  13. cue — a signal
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. game — wild animals
  16. court — of a king
  17. content — happy
  18. cue — for pool
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. stock — shares
  23. cue — a hint
  24. band — a ring

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