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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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. wake — a trail
  3. stock — shares
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. bat — the animal
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. swing — in golf
  8. date — the fruit
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. swing — music
  12. court — for sport
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. swing — to play on
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. court — of law
  19. chair — a leader
  20. court — of a king
  21. stock — goods
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. chair — to sit on

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