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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 120 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 · court · spell · hand · club · cue · scale · content

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. court — of a king
  3. stock — shares
  4. spell — a short time
  5. court — of law
  6. club — for golf
  7. club — a group
  8. club — for dancing
  9. court — for sport
  10. content — happy
  11. hand — help
  12. scale — in music
  13. cue — for pool
  14. scale — size or range
  15. content — the amount
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. cue — a signal
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. cue — a hint
  22. stock — goods
  23. hand — in cards
  24. spell — letters

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