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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 116 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 ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. field — farmland
  3. ball — a dance
  4. wound — an injury
  5. staff — employees
  6. swing — in golf
  7. ball — a great time
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. field — a subject
  10. rush — hurry
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. cell — in biology
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. cell — a phone
  15. swing — to play on
  16. stock — goods
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. staff — a stick
  19. wound — an injury
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. swing — music
  22. field — for sport
  23. staff — employees
  24. ball — a round shape

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