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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. court — for sport
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. squash — the sport
  6. court — of law
  7. row — a line
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. land — to come down
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. stock — shares
  12. wake — a trail
  13. band — a ring
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. row — to paddle
  17. pass — a permit
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. court — of a king
  20. band — a music group
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. land — ground
  23. land — a country
  24. squash — to crush

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