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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 120 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 ________________ market has crashed.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. stock — shares
  3. pass — a permit
  4. wake — a trail
  5. clip — a video
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. field — farmland
  8. clip — to cut
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. clip — for paper
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. kid — to tease
  15. field — a subject
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. rash — hasty
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. stock — goods
  21. rash — a series
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. kid — child
  24. pass — to spend time

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