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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. stock — goods
  3. content — happy
  4. field — a subject
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. prune — to trim
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. kick — in football
  10. lie — to recline
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. pound — a weight
  16. kid — to tease
  17. content — the amount
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. prune — to trim
  20. field — farmland
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. stock — shares
  23. kid — child
  24. lie — an untruth

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