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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 116 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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. spring — the season
  5. snap — to click
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. court — for sport
  9. plane — a tool
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. land — ground
  12. pound — a weight
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. land — a country
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. spring — of water
  18. spring — a coil
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. stock — shares
  21. court — of a king
  22. court — of law
  23. stock — goods
  24. racket — for tennis

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