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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. field — farmland
  3. pitch — completely
  4. board — a committee
  5. bound — certain
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. bound — tied together
  9. field — for sport
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. stock — goods
  12. clip — to cut
  13. field — a subject
  14. clip — for paper
  15. clip — a video
  16. bound — obliged
  17. board — to get on
  18. pitch — a sales talk

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