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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. When will it ________________ you to start?
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. court — of law
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. stock — shares
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. court — for sport
  8. suit — in cards
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. suit — clothes
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. sharp — clever
  13. stock — goods
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. band — a music group
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. suit — to fit
  20. band — a ring
  21. court — of a king
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. band — a rubber band

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