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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 120 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 was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. hand — help
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. pop — music
  6. pop — soda
  7. court — of law
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. fork — in a road
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. stock — shares
  13. hand — in cards
  14. pop — to visit
  15. court — of a king
  16. race — humankind
  17. stem — to come from
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. court — for sport
  21. race — the arms race
  22. stock — goods
  23. ball — a dance
  24. race — a contest

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