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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 124 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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. rash — a series
  3. season — of the year
  4. ground — a position
  5. court — for sport
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. ground — the earth
  10. shower — to wash
  11. shower — rain
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. rash — hasty
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. stock — shares
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. ground — crushed
  20. stock — goods
  21. season — in sport
  22. kid — to tease
  23. kid — child
  24. court — of law

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