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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 116 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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. stand — to bear
  3. bark — to shout
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. stock — shares
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. spring — a coil
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. spring — of water
  11. spring — the season
  12. kid — to tease
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. court — of a king
  15. wax — to grow
  16. kid — child
  17. court — of law
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. stock — goods
  20. rock — a stone
  21. rock — music
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. bark — of a tree

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