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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. prune — to trim
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. pit — in a race
  6. stock — shares
  7. prune — to trim
  8. file — a document
  9. bore — to tire
  10. bore — to drill
  11. game — wild animals
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. field — for sport
  17. field — farmland
  18. stock — goods
  19. fork — in a road
  20. game — a match
  21. file — a tool
  22. pit — a hole
  23. file — a line of people
  24. fork — a garden tool

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