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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. last — final
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. track — a song
  7. stock — shares
  8. track — to keep track
  9. court — of a king
  10. court — for sport
  11. chest — of your body
  12. court — of law
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. prune — to trim
  16. chest — a box
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. last — to go on
  19. prune — to trim
  20. stock — goods
  21. last — finally
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. chest — of your body
  24. track — a path

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