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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. capital — money
  3. swing — to play on
  4. stock — goods
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. fall — the season
  7. swing — music
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. cell — in biology
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. field — for sport
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. cell — a phone
  14. stock — shares
  15. pitch — completely
  16. field — a subject
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. capital — a city
  19. swing — in golf
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. fall — to drop
  22. field — farmland
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. sharp — clever

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