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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: kid · spell · cold · pitcher · mouse · stock · court · fan

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. spell — a short time
  3. stock — shares
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. court — of a king
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. cold — not warm
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. court — for sport
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. kid — to tease
  15. spell — letters
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. stock — goods
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. kid — child
  20. spell — magic
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. court — of law
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — the Cold War

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