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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 120 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. tube — a container
  3. squash — to crush
  4. march — the month
  5. march — the month
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. court — for sport
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. squash — the sport
  11. stock — goods
  12. stock — shares
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. court — of law
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. perch — the fish
  18. rock — a stone
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. march — music
  23. rock — music
  24. court — of a king

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