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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. cold — an illness
  3. last — final
  4. staff — employees
  5. staff — a stick
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. staff — employees
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. last — finally
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bear — the animal
  13. land — ground
  14. stock — goods
  15. bear — the animal
  16. land — to come down
  17. land — a country
  18. field — farmland
  19. stock — shares
  20. last — to go on
  21. spell — a short time
  22. field — for sport
  23. spell — letters
  24. spell — magic

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