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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. roll — a list
  4. court — of law
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. shower — to wash
  7. file — a document
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. swing — in golf
  11. stock — goods
  12. swing — music
  13. file — a tool
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. wax — to grow
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. court — for sport
  18. stock — shares
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. roll — a cake
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. file — a line of people
  23. swing — to play on
  24. shower — rain

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