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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. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. stock — goods
  3. net — in sport
  4. field — for sport
  5. board — to get on
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. field — farmland
  8. scale — size or range
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. row — a line
  11. stock — shares
  12. net — after costs
  13. file — a line of people
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. row — to paddle
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. file — a document
  19. scale — in music
  20. board — a committee
  21. field — a subject
  22. net — for catching
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. file — a 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