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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. spring — the season
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. stock — shares
  6. mug — a cup
  7. game — wild animals
  8. field — a subject
  9. game — a match
  10. root — of a plant
  11. face — part of the head
  12. stock — goods
  13. bat — the animal
  14. spring — of water
  15. mug — to rob
  16. face — to confront
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. face — to point toward
  19. field — for sport
  20. root — the cause
  21. spring — a coil
  22. mug — a face
  23. field — farmland
  24. root — of a word

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