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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: jam · court · net · stock · shower · track · season · degree

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. court — of a king
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. net — in sport
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. season — of the year
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. season — in sport
  9. shower — rain
  10. net — after costs
  11. track — to keep track
  12. court — of law
  13. shower — to wash
  14. track — a path
  15. degree — from a university
  16. track — a song
  17. degree — temperature
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. jam — in traffic
  20. degree — an amount
  21. net — for catching
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. court — for sport
  24. stock — goods

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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