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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. court — of law
  3. chest — of your body
  4. object — to protest
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. chest — a box
  7. prune — to trim
  8. land — a country
  9. land — to come down
  10. track — a song
  11. object — a thing
  12. court — of a king
  13. mine — for digging
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. stock — shares
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. land — ground
  19. court — for sport
  20. track — to keep track
  21. track — a path
  22. chest — of your body
  23. object — an aim
  24. stock — goods

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