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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. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. stock — goods
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. wound — an injury
  5. bass — low music
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. capital — money
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. field — a subject
  10. field — for sport
  11. field — farmland
  12. lean — to bend
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. date — the fruit
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. stock — shares
  17. wound — an injury
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. bass — the fish
  22. lean — thin
  23. capital — a city
  24. bowl — a dish

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