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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. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. fall — the season
  3. ground — the earth
  4. stock — shares
  5. mine — for digging
  6. ground — a position
  7. stock — goods
  8. chest — of your body
  9. field — for sport
  10. chest — of your body
  11. fall — to drop
  12. rock — music
  13. field — a subject
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. chest — a box
  16. fall — to drop
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. field — farmland
  20. rock — a stone
  21. race — humankind
  22. ground — crushed
  23. race — the arms race
  24. race — a contest

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