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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 124 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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. clip — for paper
  3. bear — the animal
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. net — after costs
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. field — a subject
  8. fine — high quality
  9. field — farmland
  10. squash — the sport
  11. field — for sport
  12. net — in sport
  13. bear — the animal
  14. stock — goods
  15. clip — to cut
  16. net — for catching
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. clip — a video
  19. stock — shares
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. game — a match
  22. squash — to crush
  23. fine — all right
  24. squash — the vegetable

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