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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. rush — hurry
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. roll — a cake
  8. stock — goods
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. stock — shares
  11. file — a document
  12. pitch — completely
  13. roll — a list
  14. court — of law
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. court — for sport
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. file — a line of people
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. pound — a weight
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. file — a tool
  24. pitch — a sports field

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