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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. stock — shares
  3. chest — of your body
  4. pound — a weight
  5. hand — in cards
  6. spring — the season
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. court — for sport
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. stock — goods
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. chest — a box
  15. court — of a king
  16. hand — help
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. chest — of your body
  20. spring — a coil
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. court — of law
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. spring — of water

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