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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 116 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 · bound · cold · pitch · band · row · bay · court

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. band — a ring
  3. bound — tied together
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bound — certain
  6. stock — goods
  7. row — a line
  8. pitch — completely
  9. row — to paddle
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. court — of law
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. band — a music group
  17. court — of a king
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. cold — not warm
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. stock — shares
  24. court — for sport

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