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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. field — for sport
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. stock — goods
  6. capital — money
  7. mine — for digging
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. stock — shares
  11. chip — to eat
  12. spring — the season
  13. spring — of water
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. capital — a city
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. spring — a coil
  19. game — wild animals
  20. field — farmland
  21. chip — for betting
  22. game — a match
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. mouse — the animal

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