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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: date · last · straw · land · content · suit · stock · court

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. When will it ________________ you to start?
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. court — of a king
  5. suit — in cards
  6. suit — to fit
  7. stock — shares
  8. court — for sport
  9. content — happy
  10. last — finally
  11. last — final
  12. stock — goods
  13. content — the amount
  14. date — the fruit
  15. court — of law
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. land — ground
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. land — to come down
  21. suit — clothes
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. land — a country
  24. last — to go on

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