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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. field — farmland
  3. wind — moving air
  4. field — for sport
  5. can — a tin
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. field — a subject
  8. last — final
  9. row — a line
  10. can — a tin
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. stock — goods
  15. can — to be able to
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. row — to paddle
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. stock — shares
  22. last — to go on
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. last — finally

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