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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. stock — goods
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. court — for sport
  7. mate — a partner
  8. press — newspapers
  9. field — farmland
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. drill — army training
  12. press — to push
  13. last — to go on
  14. court — of a king
  15. stock — shares
  16. drill — the tool
  17. last — finally
  18. press — a publisher
  19. mate — a friend
  20. field — for sport
  21. field — a subject
  22. mate — to breed
  23. court — of law
  24. drill — a practice

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