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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. court — for sport
  5. mark — a trace
  6. court — of a king
  7. prune — to trim
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. cell — in biology
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. court — of law
  14. rash — hasty
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. mark — a grade
  18. rash — a series
  19. cell — a phone
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. stock — goods
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. prune — to trim
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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