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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. field — a subject
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. fork — in a road
  5. season — in sport
  6. march — the month
  7. march — music
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. mine — for digging
  10. stock — goods
  11. file — a tool
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. field — farmland
  14. field — for sport
  15. kick — in football
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. stock — shares
  18. file — a line of people
  19. march — the month
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. season — of the year
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. file — a document
  24. fork — to eat with

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