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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. current — happening now
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. cold — not warm
  9. current — of water
  10. field — a subject
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. field — for sport
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. current — electric
  15. stock — goods
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. stock — shares
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. bat — the animal
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. bark — to shout
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. deal — to handle

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