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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. field — for sport
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. sharp — clever
  5. scale — in music
  6. field — a subject
  7. march — music
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. field — farmland
  10. stock — shares
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. net — after costs
  14. march — the month
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. net — for catching
  19. stock — goods
  20. scale — size or range
  21. march — the month
  22. kick — in football
  23. lie — to recline
  24. sharp — exactly

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