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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. court — of law
  3. game — wild animals
  4. band — a music group
  5. game — a match
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. wound — an injury
  8. stock — goods
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. squash — the sport
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. squash — to crush
  14. craft — a skill
  15. row — to paddle
  16. craft — boats
  17. row — a line
  18. wound — an injury
  19. court — of a king
  20. stock — shares
  21. court — for sport
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. band — a ring
  24. band — a rubber band

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