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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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. field — for sport
  4. field — farmland
  5. wind — moving air
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. shower — to wash
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. wind — moving air
  11. scale — size or range
  12. tube — the underground
  13. stock — shares
  14. field — a subject
  15. cell — in biology
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. shower — rain
  18. tube — a container
  19. scale — in music
  20. cell — a phone
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. saw — the tool
  24. saw — the 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