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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. field — a subject
  5. root — of a plant
  6. field — farmland
  7. root — of a word
  8. content — happy
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. content — the amount
  11. stock — goods
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. cold — not warm
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. key — in music
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. key — the most important part
  20. stock — shares
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. field — for sport
  23. root — the cause
  24. bat — the animal

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