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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. fall — to drop
  3. stock — shares
  4. fall — to drop
  5. cold — an illness
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. rash — hasty
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. club — for dancing
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. cold — not warm
  13. club — a group
  14. fall — the season
  15. court — of law
  16. club — for golf
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. stock — goods
  19. court — for sport
  20. rash — a series
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. hide — to keep secret

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