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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — for sport
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. land — a country
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. drill — a practice
  9. stock — shares
  10. rest — a break
  11. bat — the animal
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. stock — goods
  14. field — farmland
  15. land — ground
  16. rest — what's left
  17. drill — the tool
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. mine — for digging
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. land — to come down
  22. drill — army training
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. mine — belonging to me

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