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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: court · stock · mug · trunk · tear · swing · cell · shower

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. cell — in biology
  3. stock — goods
  4. stock — shares
  5. mug — a face
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. swing — music
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. tear — to rip
  10. court — for sport
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. tear — from crying
  14. swing — in golf
  15. mug — a cup
  16. cell — a phone
  17. tear — from crying
  18. mug — to rob
  19. shower — rain
  20. court — of a king
  21. shower — to wash
  22. swing — to play on
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. court — of law

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