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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 116 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: suit · stock · kid · fall · hand · court · mate · wind

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. When will it ________________ you to start?
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. mate — a partner
  3. court — for sport
  4. stock — goods
  5. kid — child
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. court — of law
  8. fall — to drop
  9. court — of a king
  10. suit — clothes
  11. hand — in cards
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. stock — shares
  14. wind — moving air
  15. suit — in cards
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. wind — moving air
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. fall — the season
  20. fall — to drop
  21. suit — to fit
  22. mate — a friend
  23. kid — to tease
  24. mate — to breed

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