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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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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: pit · stock · perch · swing · chest · game · rule · cue

  1. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — for a bird
  2. rule — government
  3. swing — to play on
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. game — wild animals
  6. stock — goods
  7. stock — shares
  8. chest — a box
  9. swing — in golf
  10. cue — for pool
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. perch — the fish
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. chest — of your body
  16. swing — music
  17. chest — of your body
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. cue — a signal
  20. cue — a hint
  21. rule — a law
  22. game — a match
  23. pit — a hole
  24. pit — in a race

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