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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. march — the month
  4. stock — goods
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. rush — hurry
  8. stock — shares
  9. march — music
  10. bat — the animal
  11. present — a gift
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. present — the time now
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. court — for sport
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. present — there
  21. court — of law
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. march — the month
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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