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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. present — the time now
  4. present — there
  5. field — farmland
  6. game — a match
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. field — for sport
  10. present — a gift
  11. game — wild animals
  12. stock — shares
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — a box
  15. field — a subject
  16. stock — goods
  17. court — of law
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. chest — of your body
  22. branch — a division
  23. game — a kind of play
  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