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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 ________________ market has crashed.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. staff — employees
  3. march — music
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. fall — the season
  6. field — a subject
  7. fall — to drop
  8. stock — goods
  9. snap — to click
  10. march — the month
  11. prune — to trim
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. staff — a stick
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. fall — to drop
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. staff — employees
  18. field — for sport
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. field — farmland
  21. prune — to trim
  22. march — the month
  23. tube — the underground
  24. tube — a container

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