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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: stock · squash · stand · game · roll · net · cell · hand

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. squash — the sport
  3. stock — goods
  4. game — wild animals
  5. hand — in cards
  6. cell — a phone
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. net — after costs
  9. cell — in biology
  10. net — for catching
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. game — a match
  13. stand — to bear
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. roll — a list
  17. hand — help
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. net — in sport
  20. squash — to crush
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. roll — a cake

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