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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: saw · bear · fan · stock · cap · cell · court · kick

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. bear — the animal
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. saw — the tool
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. cap — a hat
  11. court — for sport
  12. cell — a phone
  13. court — of law
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. kick — in football
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. court — of a king
  18. bear — the animal
  19. saw — the tool
  20. stock — goods
  21. cell — in biology
  22. stock — shares
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. cap — of ice

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