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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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. kid — to tease
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. court — for sport
  6. spell — magic
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. cell — a phone
  9. spell — a short time
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. roll — a cake
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. roll — a list
  15. spell — letters
  16. court — of law
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. court — of a king
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. stock — goods
  21. stock — shares
  22. cell — in biology
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. date — the fruit

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