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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. stock — goods
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. cell — a phone
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. land — a country
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. field — for sport
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. pit — in a race
  12. field — farmland
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. pound — a weight
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. pit — a hole
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. land — ground
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. cell — in biology
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. field — a subject
  24. land — to come down

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