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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: fan · land · jam · calf · content · stock · game · rest

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. game — a match
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. stock — goods
  10. rest — what's left
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. game — wild animals
  13. rest — what's left
  14. content — the amount
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. land — to come down
  19. land — ground
  20. stock — shares
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. rest — a break
  23. land — a country
  24. calf — a young animal

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