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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 116 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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. field — for sport
  3. face — part of the head
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. court — of law
  6. stock — shares
  7. cold — not warm
  8. lie — to recline
  9. stock — goods
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. face — to point toward
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. field — farmland
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. court — for sport
  19. sharp — clever
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. court — of a king
  23. field — a subject
  24. face — to confront

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