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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. race — humankind
  3. bore — to drill
  4. content — the amount
  5. race — a contest
  6. face — to confront
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. field — a subject
  9. content — happy
  10. kid — child
  11. drill — army training
  12. drill — a practice
  13. field — farmland
  14. race — the arms race
  15. drill — the tool
  16. stock — goods
  17. stock — shares
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. bore — to tire
  21. face — part of the head
  22. kid — to tease
  23. face — to point toward
  24. field — for sport

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