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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wound — an injury
  4. stock — shares
  5. field — farmland
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. field — a subject
  8. field — for sport
  9. row — to paddle
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. stock — goods
  14. bore — to drill
  15. key — for a lock
  16. bore — to tire
  17. kid — to tease
  18. key — in music
  19. row — a line
  20. key — the most important part
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. kid — child

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