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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 120 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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. bass — low music
  4. game — wild animals
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. field — a subject
  7. shower — to wash
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. stock — goods
  10. mark — a grade
  11. field — for sport
  12. cue — for pool
  13. game — a match
  14. bass — the fish
  15. stock — shares
  16. mark — a trace
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. cue — a hint
  19. cue — a signal
  20. shower — rain
  21. field — farmland
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. trunk — of a car

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