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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 124 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 teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. net — in sport
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. roll — a cake
  5. kid — to tease
  6. stand — to bear
  7. stock — goods
  8. field — farmland
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. net — after costs
  11. stock — shares
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. field — a subject
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. content — happy
  18. content — the amount
  19. field — for sport
  20. sharp — clever
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. net — for catching
  23. kid — child
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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