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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. field — farmland
  4. spring — of water
  5. field — a subject
  6. content — the amount
  7. stock — shares
  8. snap — to click
  9. content — happy
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. spring — the season
  14. squash — to crush
  15. stock — goods
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. spell — magic
  19. squash — the sport
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. spell — letters
  22. spring — a coil
  23. spell — a short time
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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