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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 120 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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. field — farmland
  3. land — a country
  4. stock — goods
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. stock — shares
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. wake — a trail
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. land — ground
  14. deal — to handle
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. field — a subject
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. field — for sport

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