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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 116 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 ________________ market has crashed.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. court — of law
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. hand — help
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. fall — the season
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. fall — to drop
  10. hand — in cards
  11. court — for sport
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. stock — goods
  14. sharp — clever
  15. chair — a leader
  16. court — of a king
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. ball — a great time
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. fall — to drop
  22. ball — a dance
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. chair — to sit on

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