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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. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — part of the body
  2. last — final
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. field — farmland
  7. stock — shares
  8. last — finally
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. file — a tool
  13. file — a line of people
  14. current — of water
  15. current — happening now
  16. file — a document
  17. last — to go on
  18. stock — goods
  19. field — a subject
  20. foot — a measure
  21. current — electric
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. field — for sport

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