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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
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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: squash · bound · hide · fan · ground · stock · cold · court

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. cold — an illness
  3. stock — goods
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. ground — crushed
  6. bound — certain
  7. court — of law
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. bound — obliged
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. ground — the earth
  13. court — of a king
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. squash — the sport
  18. cold — not warm
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. bound — tied together
  21. squash — to crush
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. ground — a position
  24. court — for sport

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