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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. pitch — completely
  3. stock — goods
  4. field — for sport
  5. net — in sport
  6. bore — to drill
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. squash — to crush
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. branch — a division
  14. root — the cause
  15. field — farmland
  16. field — a subject
  17. stock — shares
  18. squash — the sport
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. net — after costs
  22. root — of a plant
  23. root — of a word
  24. net — for catching

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