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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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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. shower — rain
  5. fork — in a road
  6. spell — magic
  7. shower — to wash
  8. ball — a great time
  9. court — for sport
  10. court — of a king
  11. spell — letters
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. wake — a trail
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. spell — a short time
  20. ball — a dance
  21. stock — goods
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. stock — shares

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