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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. pit — a hole
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. game — wild animals
  6. pit — in a race
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. game — a match
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. field — farmland
  12. field — a subject
  13. wound — an injury
  14. stock — shares
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. wound — an injury
  18. perch — the fish
  19. sharp — clever
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. stock — goods
  24. sharp — exactly

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