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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. wound — an injury
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. stock — shares
  7. court — of law
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — for sport
  14. court — for sport
  15. ground — the earth
  16. wound — an injury
  17. field — a subject
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. stock — goods
  20. court — of a king
  21. pound — a weight
  22. ground — crushed
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. ground — a position

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