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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. dip — to sink
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. land — to come down
  5. stock — goods
  6. ground — crushed
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. ground — the earth
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. season — of the year
  11. spring — a coil
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. spring — the season
  15. field — farmland
  16. spring — of water
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. land — a country
  19. field — a subject
  20. stock — shares
  21. ground — a position
  22. land — ground
  23. season — in sport
  24. lie — to recline

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