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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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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: court · race · rule · land · pit · stock · scale · deal

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. pit — a hole
  6. court — of law
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. pit — in a race
  9. stock — goods
  10. deal — to handle
  11. court — for sport
  12. scale — in music
  13. land — ground
  14. race — a contest
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. rule — government
  17. race — humankind
  18. land — to come down
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. land — a country
  21. race — the arms race
  22. scale — size or range
  23. rule — a law
  24. court — of a king

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