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

Word bank: drill · chest · rash · court · track · stock · lie · fall

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. track — a song
  3. drill — army training
  4. rash — a series
  5. chest — of your body
  6. fall — to drop
  7. track — to keep track
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. stock — shares
  11. court — of law
  12. drill — the tool
  13. court — of a king
  14. court — for sport
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. fall — to drop
  17. rash — hasty
  18. lie — to recline
  19. drill — a practice
  20. chest — of your body
  21. stock — goods
  22. fall — the season
  23. chest — a box
  24. track — a path

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