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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: spring · pitcher · bat · cold · court · pop · branch · stock

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. spring — of water
  3. court — of a king
  4. spring — a coil
  5. spring — the season
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. pop — music
  11. pop — to visit
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. pop — soda
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. cold — not warm
  17. branch — a division
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. bat — the animal
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. stock — goods
  22. cold — an illness
  23. stock — shares
  24. court — for sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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