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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: perch · stock · rock · bowl · net · capital · land · court

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. rock — a stone
  4. court — of law
  5. land — a country
  6. stock — goods
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. stock — shares
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. capital — money
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. rock — music
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. court — of a king
  15. land — to come down
  16. net — in sport
  17. court — for sport
  18. capital — a city
  19. perch — the fish
  20. net — after costs
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. land — ground

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