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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: court · bat · cell · hide · stock · kick

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. cell — in biology
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. kick — in football
  6. court — for sport
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. court — of law
  10. stock — goods
  11. stock — shares
  12. cell — a phone
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. bat — the animal
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. bat — for baseball

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