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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: trunk · bore · stock · court · game · cold · bear · board

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. cold — not warm
  3. court — of a king
  4. stock — shares
  5. game — wild animals
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. bear — the animal
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. board — to get on
  10. court — for sport
  11. court — of law
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. board — a committee
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. bear — the animal
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bore — to drill
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. game — a match
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. bore — to tire

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