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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. key — the most important part
  3. field — farmland
  4. hand — help
  5. stock — goods
  6. rest — a break
  7. charge — in control
  8. charge — electricity
  9. stock — shares
  10. charge — a price
  11. hand — in cards
  12. shower — rain
  13. rest — what's left
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. key — for a lock
  16. deal — to handle
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. key — in music
  19. field — a subject
  20. shower — to wash
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. rest — what's left
  23. field — for sport
  24. hand — part of the body

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