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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. prune — to trim
  5. stock — shares
  6. pitch — completely
  7. tear — to rip
  8. tear — from crying
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. prune — to trim
  11. court — for sport
  12. court — of a king
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. court — of law
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. season — of the year
  18. game — wild animals
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. pound — a weight
  21. stock — goods
  22. season — in sport
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. tear — from crying

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