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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: dip · pitcher · hand · court · date · sharp · tube · stock

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. court — of a king
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. hand — in cards
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. stock — shares
  11. hand — help
  12. tube — a container
  13. dip — to sink
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. date — the fruit
  16. stock — goods
  17. tube — the underground
  18. court — of law
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. court — for sport
  23. sharp — clever
  24. tube — in a tire

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