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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: capital · roll · squash · file · net · snap · stock · court

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  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. court — of law
  2. net — after costs
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. court — of a king
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. net — for catching
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. snap — to click
  9. squash — to crush
  10. net — in sport
  11. file — a document
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. file — a line of people
  14. capital — money
  15. roll — a cake
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. capital — a city
  18. file — a tool
  19. stock — goods
  20. roll — a list
  21. squash — the sport
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  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