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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of law
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. rush — hurry
  8. cue — a hint
  9. cue — a signal
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. mine — for digging
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. wake — a trail
  15. cue — for pool
  16. row — a line
  17. court — of a king
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. row — to paddle
  21. stock — shares
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. stock — goods

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