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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: pit · stock · cold · content · date · racket · game · track

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. track — to keep track
  6. game — a match
  7. stock — goods
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. track — a song
  11. game — wild animals
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. pit — in a race
  14. date — the fruit
  15. content — happy
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. content — the amount
  18. cold — not warm
  19. track — a path
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. stock — shares
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. pit — a hole

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