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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. stock — shares
  3. stock — goods
  4. court — of law
  5. press — newspapers
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. wax — to grow
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. press — a publisher
  10. content — happy
  11. perch — the fish
  12. court — of a king
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. prune — to trim
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. press — to push
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. sharp — clever
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. content — the amount
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. prune — to trim
  24. wax — for sculpting

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