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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. net — after costs
  3. net — for catching
  4. cap — a lid
  5. fork — in a road
  6. field — for sport
  7. cap — a hat
  8. field — farmland
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. spring — the season
  11. fine — all right
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. spring — of water
  14. stock — shares
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. field — a subject
  17. cap — of ice
  18. stock — goods
  19. vault — a safe
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. net — in sport
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. fine — high quality
  24. spring — a coil

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