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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. stock — shares
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. chip — to eat
  5. root — the cause
  6. cap — of ice
  7. field — a subject
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. root — of a word
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. field — farmland
  13. root — of a plant
  14. field — for sport
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. cap — a lid
  18. chip — for betting
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. stock — goods
  21. cap — a hat
  22. cold — an illness
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. cold — the Cold War

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