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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 supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. file — a tool
  4. rush — hurry
  5. ball — a great time
  6. field — a subject
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. spell — magic
  9. spell — a short time
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. file — a line of people
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. field — for sport
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. field — farmland
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. file — a document
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. spell — letters
  21. kick — in football
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. ball — a dance
  24. stock — shares

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