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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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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 · mark · cell · stock · race · march

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. race — humankind
  3. march — the month
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. race — the arms race
  7. cell — in biology
  8. cell — a phone
  9. court — of law
  10. march — music
  11. stock — goods
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. court — for sport
  14. stock — shares
  15. court — of a king
  16. march — the month
  17. mark — a trace
  18. mark — a grade

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