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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. row — a line
  3. game — a match
  4. can — to be able to
  5. field — farmland
  6. can — a tin
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. stock — shares
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. field — for sport
  12. swing — in golf
  13. row — to paddle
  14. stock — goods
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. swing — music
  17. field — a subject
  18. game — wild animals
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. can — a tin
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. stem — to come from
  24. stem — of a plant

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