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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. stock — goods
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. face — part of the head
  5. shower — to wash
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. can — a tin
  8. face — to confront
  9. can — a tin
  10. can — to be able to
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. face — to point toward
  14. deal — to handle
  15. shower — rain
  16. game — a match
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. field — for sport
  20. mine — for digging
  21. stock — shares
  22. field — farmland
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. game — wild animals

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