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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 120 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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. hand — help
  3. field — for sport
  4. ground — the earth
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. vault — a safe
  8. row — a line
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. kid — to tease
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. ground — crushed
  14. kid — child
  15. row — to paddle
  16. stock — shares
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hand — in cards
  21. ground — a position
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. field — a subject
  24. field — farmland

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