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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: bat · race · chair · patient · stock · court · wound · shower

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. stock — shares
  3. wound — an injury
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. bat — the animal
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. shower — rain
  9. race — humankind
  10. stock — goods
  11. court — of a king
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. race — the arms race
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. court — for sport
  18. court — of law
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. shower — to wash
  22. chair — a leader
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. race — a contest

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