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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. ground — crushed
  3. key — in music
  4. stock — goods
  5. court — of a king
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. bound — obliged
  8. bound — certain
  9. wound — an injury
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. ground — a position
  12. spring — the season
  13. key — the most important part
  14. present — there
  15. key — for a lock
  16. bound — tied together
  17. wound — an injury
  18. court — of law
  19. stock — shares
  20. present — the time now
  21. ground — the earth
  22. present — a gift
  23. spring — of water
  24. spring — a coil

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