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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. deal — to handle
  6. race — a contest
  7. race — the arms race
  8. cell — a phone
  9. land — ground
  10. field — farmland
  11. bulb — for light
  12. cell — in biology
  13. land — to come down
  14. bulb — for light
  15. content — the amount
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. stock — goods
  20. stock — shares
  21. race — humankind
  22. land — a country
  23. content — happy
  24. field — a subject

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