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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. bound — obliged
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. ball — a dance
  7. field — a subject
  8. stock — shares
  9. row — a line
  10. wind — moving air
  11. bound — certain
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. ball — a great time
  14. wind — moving air
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. stock — goods
  18. bat — the animal
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. roll — a list
  21. bound — tied together
  22. field — farmland
  23. roll — a cake
  24. row — to paddle

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