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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: cap · content · stem · bass · bear · game · court · stock

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. court — for sport
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. court — of a king
  5. cap — a hat
  6. content — happy
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. bass — low music
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. cap — of ice
  11. bear — the animal
  12. game — a match
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. court — of law
  15. content — the amount
  16. game — wild animals
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. stem — to come from
  19. cap — a lid
  20. stock — goods
  21. bear — the animal
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. bass — the fish
  24. bass — the instrument

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