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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 116 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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. field — for sport
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. field — farmland
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. chair — a leader
  7. stock — goods
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. pass — a permit
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. face — to point toward
  13. face — to confront
  14. band — a music group
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. field — a subject
  17. band — a ring
  18. fork — in a road
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. face — part of the head
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. patient — a sick person

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