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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: straw · court · press · kid · game · stock · hand · fan

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. court — of a king
  3. kid — to tease
  4. press — a publisher
  5. stock — goods
  6. game — a match
  7. game — wild animals
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. hand — help
  10. stock — shares
  11. hand — in cards
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. court — for sport
  14. press — to push
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. kid — child
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. court — of law
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. press — newspapers

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