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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. stock — shares
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. field — for sport
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. field — farmland
  9. scale — size or range
  10. chest — of your body
  11. mug — to rob
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. stock — goods
  14. field — a subject
  15. mug — a face
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. chest — a box
  19. club — for golf
  20. mug — a cup
  21. scale — in music
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. club — a group
  24. chest — of your body

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