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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: fine · bat · court · stock · vault · shower · land · charge

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. I assure you, everything's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. bat — the animal
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. charge — electricity
  6. court — for sport
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. court — of law
  9. charge — in control
  10. shower — rain
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. land — to come down
  13. fine — high quality
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. charge — a price
  16. court — of a king
  17. stock — shares
  18. shower — to wash
  19. land — a country
  20. stock — goods
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. vault — a safe
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. fine — all right

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