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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. stock — goods
  3. tube — a container
  4. field — for sport
  5. field — a subject
  6. squash — the sport
  7. pop — music
  8. prune — to trim
  9. squash — to crush
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. prune — to trim
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. lie — to recline
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. tube — the underground
  20. pop — to visit
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. field — farmland
  23. pop — soda
  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