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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: club · clip · court · land · racket · toast · cell · stock

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. cell — in biology
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. court — of a king
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. club — for golf
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. court — of law
  9. clip — to cut
  10. court — for sport
  11. stock — goods
  12. land — ground
  13. club — a group
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. club — for dancing
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. cell — a phone
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — a video
  21. land — to come down
  22. toast — bread
  23. stock — shares
  24. cell — in a prison

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