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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. field — farmland
  3. band — a music group
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bound — certain
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. key — in music
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. bound — obliged
  10. band — a ring
  11. stock — goods
  12. key — for a lock
  13. stem — to come from
  14. bound — tied together
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. field — for sport
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. cold — an illness
  21. stock — shares
  22. field — a subject
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. key — the most important part

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