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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: trunk · scale · chip · file · stock · court · bat · ball

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. bat — the animal
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. stock — shares
  5. court — for sport
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. ball — a great time
  10. file — a tool
  11. stock — goods
  12. scale — in music
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. chip — for betting
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. ball — a dance
  17. file — a line of people
  18. chip — to eat
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. file — a document
  21. court — of a king
  22. scale — size or range
  23. court — of law
  24. scale — for weighing

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