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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 124 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 ________________ market has crashed.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. field — a subject
  3. rash — hasty
  4. wound — an injury
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. rash — a series
  8. board — to get on
  9. board — a committee
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wound — an injury
  16. stock — goods
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. field — farmland
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. cold — an illness
  24. field — for sport

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