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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. court — of a king
  5. court — for sport
  6. cell — a phone
  7. prune — to trim
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. band — a ring
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. court — of law
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. cell — in biology
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. bat — the animal
  21. prune — to trim
  22. band — a music group
  23. stock — shares
  24. cell — in a prison

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