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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 116 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: stock · mouse · capital · game · pop · swing · ball · kid

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. ball — a dance
  5. swing — to play on
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. game — wild animals
  8. game — a match
  9. stock — goods
  10. pop — to visit
  11. capital — a city
  12. ball — a great time
  13. capital — money
  14. stock — shares
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. kid — to tease
  19. kid — child
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. pop — music
  22. swing — music
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. swing — in golf

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