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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. shower — rain
  4. stock — shares
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. shower — to wash
  7. field — for sport
  8. mug — a face
  9. field — farmland
  10. field — a subject
  11. cell — in biology
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. degree — an amount
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. degree — from a university
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. stock — goods
  19. mug — a cup
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. mug — to rob
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. degree — temperature
  24. fork — in a road

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