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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: court · jam · racket · chip · bat · stock · last · date

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. court — for sport
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. last — final
  5. court — of law
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. chip — to eat
  8. stock — goods
  9. date — the fruit
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. bat — the animal
  13. last — finally
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. court — of a king
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. chip — for betting
  19. stock — shares
  20. last — to go on
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. stock — a soup base

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