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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: craft · mouse · stock · ground · court · wound · wind · date

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. wind — moving air
  4. court — of law
  5. wind — moving air
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. ground — crushed
  9. wound — an injury
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. craft — boats
  12. court — of a king
  13. ground — a position
  14. ground — the earth
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. stock — shares
  17. craft — a skill
  18. date — the fruit
  19. wound — an injury
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. stock — goods

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