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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. saw — the tool
  3. field — for sport
  4. cell — in biology
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. ground — a position
  7. saw — the tool
  8. ground — crushed
  9. ground — the earth
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. bore — to drill
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. cell — a phone
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. field — a subject
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. bore — to tire
  19. toast — bread
  20. stock — goods
  21. field — farmland
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. stock — shares

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