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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 120 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. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — in a computer
  2. stock — shares
  3. field — for sport
  4. craft — boats
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. craft — a skill
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. wind — moving air
  11. field — farmland
  12. court — for sport
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. stock — goods
  15. chip — to eat
  16. wind — moving air
  17. shower — to wash
  18. shower — rain
  19. court — of a king
  20. pitch — completely
  21. field — a subject
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. chip — for betting
  24. court — of law

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