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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  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. coach — pulled by horses
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. ball — a great time
  4. cue — a hint
  5. branch — a division
  6. land — a country
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. spring — of water
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. stock — shares
  12. land — to come down
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. spring — the season
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. land — ground
  18. stock — goods
  19. ball — a dance
  20. rash — hasty
  21. rash — a series
  22. cue — for pool
  23. cue — a signal
  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