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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. squash — to crush
  3. court — for sport
  4. land — ground
  5. key — the most important part
  6. stock — shares
  7. season — in sport
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. squash — the sport
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. land — to come down
  12. court — of a king
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. court — of law
  15. prune — to trim
  16. stock — goods
  17. rule — a law
  18. season — of the year
  19. land — a country
  20. key — in music
  21. rule — government
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. prune — to trim
  24. key — for a lock

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