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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. perch — the fish
  4. pop — to visit
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. stock — shares
  7. capital — money
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. pop — music
  10. drill — army training
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. pop — soda
  13. stock — goods
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. capital — a city
  17. field — a subject
  18. drill — the tool
  19. drill — a practice
  20. rush — hurry
  21. field — for sport
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. rush — to hurry

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