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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 120 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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. scale — in music
  3. field — for sport
  4. stock — goods
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. stock — shares
  7. field — farmland
  8. bark — to shout
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. hand — in cards
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. hand — help
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. cap — of ice
  17. scale — size or range
  18. cap — a hat
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. row — a line
  22. field — a subject
  23. cap — a lid
  24. leaves — to go away

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