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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: dip · cell · last · club · kid · court · rush · stock

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. cell — a phone
  3. club — for golf
  4. court — of law
  5. last — finally
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. last — final
  8. court — of a king
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. stock — shares
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. club — a group
  16. kid — child
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — to tease
  19. court — for sport
  20. last — to go on
  21. stock — goods
  22. cell — in biology
  23. club — for dancing
  24. dip — to sink

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