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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: kid · field · date · file · stock · racket · toast · court

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. stock — shares
  3. stock — goods
  4. date — the fruit
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. field — a subject
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. file — a line of people
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. kid — child
  11. toast — bread
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. file — a document
  14. kid — to tease
  15. court — of law
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. file — a tool
  18. field — for sport
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. court — for sport
  21. field — farmland
  22. court — of a king
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. racket — a loud noise

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