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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. board — a committee
  7. land — to come down
  8. field — a subject
  9. stock — goods
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. date — the fruit
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. land — ground
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — moving air
  16. board — to get on
  17. stock — shares
  18. land — a country
  19. field — for sport
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. snap — to click
  24. field — farmland

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