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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. field — a subject
  3. rest — what's left
  4. stock — shares
  5. mark — a trace
  6. last — to go on
  7. bulb — for light
  8. bulb — for light
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. field — for sport
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. mark — a grade
  14. last — final
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. rest — what's left
  18. wind — moving air
  19. last — finally
  20. field — farmland
  21. stock — goods
  22. cold — not warm
  23. rest — a break
  24. wind — moving air

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