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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. rest — what's left
  3. march — music
  4. shower — rain
  5. shower — to wash
  6. rest — a break
  7. bass — low music
  8. field — a subject
  9. content — happy
  10. scale — size or range
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. march — the month
  13. content — the amount
  14. rest — what's left
  15. field — farmland
  16. scale — in music
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. bass — the fish
  20. stock — goods
  21. stock — shares
  22. march — the month
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. bass — the instrument

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