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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 ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. stock — goods
  3. field — for sport
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. row — a line
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. row — to paddle
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. cell — a phone
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. field — farmland
  15. pitch — completely
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. spring — of water
  19. spring — the season
  20. cell — in biology
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. field — a subject
  23. spring — a coil
  24. ruler — for measuring

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