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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 116 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. stock — goods
  3. stock — shares
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. lie — to recline
  6. field — for sport
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. hand — in cards
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. hand — help
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. object — an aim
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. object — a thing
  16. object — to protest
  17. field — a subject
  18. chair — a leader

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