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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. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. stock — goods
  3. pop — music
  4. shower — to wash
  5. chest — of your body
  6. pop — soda
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. lie — to recline
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. chest — of your body
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. shower — rain
  15. court — of law
  16. mine — for digging
  17. stock — shares
  18. pop — to visit
  19. chest — a box
  20. date — the fruit
  21. court — of a king
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. court — for sport

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