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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. field — for sport
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. sharp — clever
  7. spring — of water
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. field — farmland
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. spring — a coil
  13. stock — goods
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. hand — in cards
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. content — happy
  18. hand — help
  19. stock — shares
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. content — the amount
  23. field — a subject
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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