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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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468
Word bank
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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. field — a subject
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. rest — what's left
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. field — farmland
  15. snap — to click
  16. field — for sport
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. cell — a phone
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. stock — goods
  21. rest — a break
  22. cell — in biology
  23. rest — what's left
  24. racket — for tennis

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