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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 light ________________ burned out.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. stock — goods
  3. band — a music group
  4. charge — in control
  5. stock — shares
  6. charge — electricity
  7. fall — to drop
  8. cell — in biology
  9. field — a subject
  10. cell — a phone
  11. field — for sport
  12. charge — a price
  13. fall — to drop
  14. bulb — for light
  15. band — a ring
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. ground — the earth
  18. ground — crushed
  19. fall — the season
  20. ground — a position
  21. field — farmland
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. cell — in a prison

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