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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: ground · stock · trunk · firm · court · arm · chip · land

  1. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. court — of a king
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. chip — to eat
  8. firm — a company
  9. stock — goods
  10. ground — a position
  11. ground — crushed
  12. land — to come down
  13. court — for sport
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. land — a country
  17. land — ground
  18. court — of law
  19. firm — steady
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. ground — the earth
  22. chip — for betting
  23. stock — shares
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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