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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. stock — shares
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. vault — a safe
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. chair — a leader
  8. court — of a king
  9. shower — rain
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. roll — a cake
  12. court — of law
  13. field — a subject
  14. court — for sport
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. race — the arms race
  17. race — a contest
  18. roll — a list
  19. stock — goods
  20. shower — to wash
  21. field — farmland
  22. race — humankind
  23. field — for sport
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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