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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 ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. chest — of your body
  3. stock — goods
  4. field — farmland
  5. stock — shares
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. bass — the fish
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — the tool
  10. last — finally
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. field — a subject
  13. chest — a box
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. pass — a permit
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. last — final
  18. chest — of your body
  19. last — to go on
  20. dip — to sink
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. bass — low music
  23. field — for sport
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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