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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. march — music
  3. stock — goods
  4. court — for sport
  5. squash — to crush
  6. last — to go on
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — an injury
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. squash — the sport
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. court — of law
  13. cue — a signal
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. cue — for pool
  16. stock — shares
  17. court — of a king
  18. cue — a hint
  19. march — the month
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. perch — the fish
  22. last — final
  23. march — the month
  24. last — finally

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