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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. sharp — clever
  3. wind — moving air
  4. mate — a friend
  5. stock — goods
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. field — for sport
  8. mate — a partner
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. capital — money
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. wind — moving air
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. capital — a city
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. stock — shares
  18. mate — to breed
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. field — farmland
  24. field — a subject

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