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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: stock · kid · court · branch · wind · pop · saw · rash

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. court — of law
  3. wind — moving air
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. wind — moving air
  6. pop — soda
  7. pop — music
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. saw — the tool
  10. court — for sport
  11. stock — goods
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. branch — a division
  16. rash — hasty
  17. pop — to visit
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. court — of a king
  21. kid — child
  22. kid — to tease
  23. rash — a series
  24. saw — the tool

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