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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: cue · court · capital · kick · stock · hand · wind · fine

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. fine — all right
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. cue — a signal
  7. wind — moving air
  8. cue — for pool
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. capital — a city
  12. fine — high quality
  13. stock — goods
  14. court — for sport
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. hand — in cards
  18. kick — in football
  19. cue — a hint
  20. hand — help
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. court — of law
  23. capital — money
  24. court — of a king

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