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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. field — for sport
  4. chest — of your body
  5. lie — to recline
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. row — to paddle
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. stock — goods
  10. chest — of your body
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. roll — a list
  13. field — farmland
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. field — a subject
  18. stock — shares
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. chest — a box
  23. row — a line
  24. lie — an untruth

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