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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. cell — a phone
  3. object — a thing
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. land — ground
  6. land — to come down
  7. land — a country
  8. cue — a hint
  9. bank — of a river
  10. bank — for money
  11. file — a tool
  12. stock — shares
  13. bank — for money
  14. court — of a king
  15. stock — goods
  16. cue — a signal
  17. court — of law
  18. file — a line of people
  19. cue — for pool
  20. file — a document
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. cell — in biology
  23. court — for sport
  24. object — to protest

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