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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: spring · cell · court · wind · racket · stock

  1. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. stock — shares
  3. stock — goods
  4. cell — a phone
  5. cell — in biology
  6. court — of a king
  7. wind — moving air
  8. spring — of water
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. court — for sport
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. spring — the season
  14. court — of law
  15. wind — moving air
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. spring — a coil

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