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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: lean · content · stock · prune · scale · game · court · shower

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. stock — goods
  3. stock — shares
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. scale — in music
  6. content — happy
  7. prune — to trim
  8. scale — size or range
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. court — of a king
  11. prune — to trim
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. game — wild animals
  14. lean — to bend
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. content — the amount
  17. court — for sport
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. game — a match
  20. shower — to wash
  21. shower — rain
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. court — of law

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