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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: sharp · mine · stock · toast · snap · tube · cell · court

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. stock — goods
  4. court — for sport
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. snap — to click
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. mine — for digging
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. sharp — clever
  11. tube — a container
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. tube — the underground
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. cell — a phone
  17. court — of law
  18. toast — bread
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. stock — shares
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cell — in a prison

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