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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. field — for sport
  3. field — a subject
  4. swing — to play on
  5. field — farmland
  6. court — of law
  7. stock — goods
  8. court — for sport
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. rush — hurry
  13. content — the amount
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. band — a ring
  18. court — of a king
  19. swing — music
  20. content — happy
  21. rule — government
  22. band — a music group
  23. rule — a law
  24. swing — in golf

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