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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. field — farmland
  4. fork — in a road
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. field — for sport
  12. court — for sport
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. shower — rain
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. stock — goods
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. shower — to wash
  20. court — of law
  21. court — of a king
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. stock — shares
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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