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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: bulb · coach · wind · court · stock · roll · date · present

  1. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. roll — a cake
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. court — for sport
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. court — of law
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. stock — shares
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. court — of a king
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. date — the fruit
  15. wind — moving air
  16. stock — goods
  17. bulb — for light
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. present — there
  20. present — the time now
  21. present — a gift
  22. wind — moving air
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. roll — a list

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