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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. pop — music
  3. pop — to visit
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. stock — goods
  6. field — farmland
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. can — a tin
  10. stock — shares
  11. can — a tin
  12. field — for sport
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. field — a subject
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. court — of a king
  17. can — to be able to
  18. band — a ring
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. court — of law
  21. pop — soda
  22. band — a music group
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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