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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 120 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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. chest — a box
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. court — for sport
  8. hand — in cards
  9. court — of law
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. stock — shares
  12. cap — a hat
  13. wake — a trail
  14. chest — of your body
  15. cap — of ice
  16. cap — a lid
  17. court — of a king
  18. perch — the fish
  19. stock — goods
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. chest — of your body
  22. hand — help
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. mine — for digging

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