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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 assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. land — ground
  3. stock — shares
  4. stand — to bear
  5. stock — goods
  6. court — of law
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. face — to confront
  9. face — to point toward
  10. shower — rain
  11. land — a country
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. shower — to wash
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. land — to come down
  17. face — part of the head
  18. fine — high quality
  19. court — of a king
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. court — for sport

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