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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. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. vault — in gymnastics
  2. stock — shares
  3. squash — to crush
  4. court — of law
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. spell — letters
  7. squash — the sport
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. court — for sport
  11. spell — magic
  12. land — a country
  13. file — a tool
  14. stock — goods
  15. spell — a short time
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. land — ground
  18. sharp — clever
  19. court — of a king
  20. file — a line of people
  21. file — a document
  22. vault — a safe
  23. land — to come down
  24. sharp — exactly

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