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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. net — after costs
  4. season — of the year
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. chair — a leader
  7. key — the most important part
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. season — in sport
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. net — for catching
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. field — a subject
  14. field — for sport
  15. net — in sport
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. stock — goods
  18. stock — shares
  19. key — for a lock
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. field — farmland
  24. key — in music

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