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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 · cold · rest · stock · racket · ruler

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. cold — not warm
  3. rest — what's left
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. stock — goods
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. stock — shares
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. court — of a king
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. court — for sport
  16. rest — what's left
  17. cold — an illness
  18. court — of law

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