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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 120 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: safe · last · pit · season · court · coach · shower · stock

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. shower — to wash
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. last — to go on
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. court — for sport
  10. last — final
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. pit — a hole
  13. last — finally
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. stock — goods
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. season — of the year
  19. shower — rain
  20. court — of a king
  21. pit — in a race
  22. season — in sport
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. stock — shares

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