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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. stock — shares
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. field — for sport
  7. present — there
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. present — a gift
  10. field — a subject
  11. season — of the year
  12. field — farmland
  13. file — a line of people
  14. season — in sport
  15. stock — goods
  16. present — the time now
  17. file — a document
  18. file — a tool

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