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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: face · rock · court · season · cold · kid · stock · fan

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. season — of the year
  3. cold — not warm
  4. stock — goods
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. face — part of the head
  8. court — for sport
  9. court — of a king
  10. stock — shares
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. rock — a stone
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. kid — to tease
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. face — to confront
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. face — to point toward
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. kid — child
  22. rock — music
  23. season — in sport
  24. cold — an illness

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