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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. ground — the earth
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. saw — the tool
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. stock — shares
  9. bat — the animal
  10. ground — a position
  11. field — for sport
  12. field — farmland
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. field — a subject
  15. stock — goods
  16. bear — the animal
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. bear — the animal
  20. content — the amount
  21. stem — to come from
  22. content — happy
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. saw — the tool

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