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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 120 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 train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. rash — hasty
  4. stock — shares
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. spring — of water
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. net — in sport
  10. net — after costs
  11. rash — a series
  12. stock — goods
  13. court — of a king
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. net — for catching
  18. court — of law
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. court — for sport
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. spring — the season
  24. spring — a coil

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