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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. field — a subject
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. fork — in a road
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. stock — goods
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. spring — the season
  9. field — for sport
  10. spring — a coil
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. bat — the animal
  13. field — farmland
  14. stock — shares
  15. bark — to shout
  16. spring — of water
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. wax — to grow
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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