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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: mine · stock · court · ball · object · wind · prune · spring

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. stock — shares
  4. court — of law
  5. ball — a great time
  6. object — a thing
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. object — an aim
  9. ball — a dance
  10. court — of a king
  11. mine — for digging
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. prune — to trim
  14. prune — to trim
  15. stock — goods
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. wind — moving air
  18. spring — of water
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. spring — a coil
  21. object — to protest
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. spring — the season

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