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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 116 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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. tube — the underground
  3. pop — music
  4. tube — a container
  5. last — final
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. field — a subject
  8. stock — shares
  9. last — finally
  10. pop — to visit
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. stock — goods
  15. kid — to tease
  16. pop — soda
  17. squash — to crush
  18. field — for sport
  19. field — farmland
  20. last — to go on
  21. squash — the sport
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. bowl — a football final

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