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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: court · stock · fork · shower · foot · rule

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. stock — shares
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. stock — goods
  6. court — for sport
  7. fork — in a road
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. rule — government
  10. shower — to wash
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. rule — a law
  13. foot — a measure
  14. court — of a king
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. shower — rain

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