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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 120 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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. file — a line of people
  3. capital — money
  4. field — for sport
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. field — farmland
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. capital — a city
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. pit — a hole
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. stock — shares
  14. bulb — for light
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. stock — goods
  17. file — a document
  18. bulb — for light
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. field — a subject
  23. pit — in a race
  24. file — a tool

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