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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 kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. court — for sport
  3. spring — of water
  4. current — electric
  5. chest — of your body
  6. spring — a coil
  7. stock — shares
  8. current — of water
  9. chest — a box
  10. scale — size or range
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. spring — the season
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. court — of law
  16. chest — of your body
  17. season — of the year
  18. scale — in music
  19. branch — a division
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. court — of a king
  22. season — in sport
  23. current — happening now
  24. stock — goods

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