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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. key — the most important part
  3. can — a tin
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. spell — a short time
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. can — to be able to
  8. spell — magic
  9. key — in music
  10. field — for sport
  11. band — a ring
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. key — for a lock
  14. stock — goods
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. field — a subject
  18. field — farmland
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. band — a music group
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. can — a tin
  24. stock — shares

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