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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. lie — to recline
  4. chest — a box
  5. field — farmland
  6. stock — goods
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. firm — steady
  13. chest — of your body
  14. cell — a phone
  15. cell — in biology
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. firm — decided
  18. field — for sport
  19. field — a subject
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. scale — size or range
  22. scale — in music
  23. firm — a company
  24. chest — of your body

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