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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. stock — shares
  3. prune — to trim
  4. field — farmland
  5. stock — goods
  6. vault — a safe
  7. track — to keep track
  8. prune — to trim
  9. craft — a skill
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. cold — not warm
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. track — a path
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. field — a subject
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. track — a song
  19. foot — a measure
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. field — for sport
  22. craft — boats
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. cold — the Cold War

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