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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. wound — an injury
  3. bore — to tire
  4. stock — shares
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. wound — an injury
  8. pop — music
  9. pop — to visit
  10. ball — a dance
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. cell — in biology
  14. cell — a phone
  15. bore — to drill
  16. field — for sport
  17. perch — the fish
  18. field — a subject
  19. pop — soda
  20. field — farmland
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. stock — goods

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