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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. stock — shares
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. court — of law
  5. deal — to handle
  6. court — for sport
  7. cold — an illness
  8. court — of a king
  9. cold — not warm
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. bat — the animal
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. charge — a price
  15. stock — goods
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. charge — in control
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. charge — electricity

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