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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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. kid — child
  5. stock — shares
  6. season — of the year
  7. court — of law
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. court — of a king
  11. spring — the season
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. rash — a series
  14. spring — a coil
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. season — in sport
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. rash — hasty
  19. kid — to tease
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. court — for sport
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. spring — of water
  24. season — to add flavour

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