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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. field — farmland
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. stock — goods
  5. stock — shares
  6. field — for sport
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. ground — crushed
  11. ground — the earth
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. key — for a lock
  14. craft — boats
  15. prune — to trim
  16. key — in music
  17. current — happening now
  18. craft — a skill
  19. field — a subject
  20. prune — to trim
  21. current — of water
  22. key — the most important part
  23. current — electric
  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