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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. tube — the underground
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of law
  5. track — a path
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. snap — to click
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. stock — shares
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. track — to keep track
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. band — a music group
  17. track — a song
  18. court — of a king
  19. tube — a container
  20. mine — for digging
  21. spell — magic
  22. spell — letters
  23. band — a ring
  24. spell — a short time

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