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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. squash — to crush
  5. stock — goods
  6. mine — for digging
  7. wound — an injury
  8. cell — in biology
  9. wound — an injury
  10. squash — the sport
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. prune — to trim
  13. cell — a phone
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. court — of a king
  19. prune — to trim
  20. court — of law
  21. branch — a division
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. court — for sport
  24. branch — of a bank

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