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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 get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. court — of law
  3. stock — shares
  4. swing — to play on
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. mine — for digging
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. present — a gift
  9. swing — music
  10. fork — in a road
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. swing — in golf
  13. present — the time now
  14. court — of a king
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. wound — an injury
  17. present — there
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. stock — goods
  20. court — for sport
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. kick — in football
  23. wound — an injury
  24. stock — a soup base

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