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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: stock · rest · racket · board · court · kid · chest · game

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. stock — goods
  3. chest — of your body
  4. kid — child
  5. stock — shares
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. board — to get on
  8. chest — a box
  9. rest — a break
  10. court — for sport
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. kid — to tease
  13. game — wild animals
  14. court — of a king
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. rest — what's left
  17. court — of law
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. board — a committee
  20. rest — what's left
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. chest — of your body
  23. game — a match
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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