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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. cap — a hat
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. court — for sport
  5. bass — low music
  6. cap — a lid
  7. stock — shares
  8. stock — goods
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. chest — of your body
  12. mark — a trace
  13. mark — a grade
  14. chest — a box
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. chest — of your body
  17. cap — of ice
  18. court — of law
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. bass — the fish
  23. court — of a king
  24. date — the fruit

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