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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. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. march — the month
  3. mug — a cup
  4. cold — not warm
  5. rash — a series
  6. mug — to rob
  7. content — happy
  8. field — for sport
  9. stock — goods
  10. march — music
  11. content — the amount
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. field — farmland
  14. mug — a face
  15. rash — hasty
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. march — the month
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. pit — a hole
  20. field — a subject
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. cold — an illness
  23. stock — shares
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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