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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 ________________ market has crashed.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. spell — letters
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. court — of law
  5. scale — size or range
  6. spell — a short time
  7. court — for sport
  8. spell — magic
  9. file — a line of people
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. file — a tool
  12. scale — in music
  13. stock — goods
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. file — a document
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. court — of a king
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. lie — to recline
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. spring — a coil
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. spring — the season
  24. spring — of water

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