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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: pit · band · net · stock · court · current · chip · bat

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. court — of law
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. court — of a king
  5. bat — the animal
  6. band — a music group
  7. pit — a hole
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. band — a ring
  10. pit — in a race
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. court — for sport
  15. stock — goods
  16. current — happening now
  17. net — in sport
  18. current — of water
  19. net — for catching
  20. net — after costs
  21. chip — to eat
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. chip — for betting
  24. current — electric

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