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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. court — of law
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. rash — hasty
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. court — for sport
  9. bark — to shout
  10. field — a subject
  11. rash — a series
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. shower — to wash
  15. stock — shares
  16. stand — to bear
  17. field — farmland
  18. shower — rain
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. stock — goods
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. field — for sport
  24. bark — of a tree

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