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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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. spring — of water
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. field — a subject
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. ball — a great time
  7. ball — a dance
  8. field — farmland
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. stock — goods
  12. wake — a trail
  13. field — for sport
  14. spring — a coil
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. chair — a leader
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. stock — shares
  19. spring — the season
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. wind — moving air

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