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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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. club — for golf
  3. land — ground
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. land — to come down
  6. march — the month
  7. stock — goods
  8. march — the month
  9. spring — a coil
  10. field — for sport
  11. land — a country
  12. field — a subject
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. stock — shares
  15. swing — in golf
  16. field — farmland
  17. swing — to play on
  18. swing — music
  19. spring — of water
  20. spring — the season
  21. march — music
  22. club — for dancing
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. stem — to come from

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