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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 116 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 information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. scale — in music
  3. row — a line
  4. stock — goods
  5. spell — a short time
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. field — for sport
  8. spell — letters
  9. row — to paddle
  10. field — farmland
  11. stock — shares
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. file — a tool
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. spell — magic
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. scale — size or range
  19. squash — to crush
  20. file — a line of people
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. squash — the sport
  23. field — a subject
  24. pitch — completely

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