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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 assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. track — a path
  3. track — a song
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. stock — goods
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. pound — a weight
  8. field — farmland
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. wake — a trail
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. track — to keep track
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. march — music
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. field — for sport
  18. stock — shares
  19. field — a subject
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. fine — high quality
  22. march — the month
  23. march — the month
  24. fine — a penalty

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