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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 116 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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. court — for sport
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. land — a country
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. net — for catching
  8. net — in sport
  9. net — after costs
  10. content — the amount
  11. content — happy
  12. craft — boats
  13. ball — a dance
  14. land — to come down
  15. stock — shares
  16. land — ground
  17. court — of law
  18. craft — a skill
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. court — of a king
  21. fork — in a road
  22. stock — goods
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. ball — a great time

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