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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 116 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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. scale — in music
  3. shower — rain
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. field — farmland
  7. stock — goods
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. chip — to eat
  10. cold — an illness
  11. court — of a king
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. field — a subject
  14. cold — not warm
  15. field — for sport
  16. court — of law
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. chip — for betting
  21. scale — size or range
  22. court — for sport
  23. shower — to wash
  24. stock — shares

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