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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. court — of law
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. court — for sport
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. swing — music
  7. bat — the animal
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. cell — a phone
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. swing — in golf
  12. shower — rain
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. stock — shares
  15. court — of a king
  16. stock — goods
  17. cell — in biology
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. swing — to play on
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. nail — for a hammer

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