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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. march — music
  3. bound — certain
  4. field — a subject
  5. land — to come down
  6. land — ground
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. bound — obliged
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. ball — a great time
  11. pit — a hole
  12. march — the month
  13. squash — to crush
  14. bound — tied together
  15. stock — goods
  16. march — the month
  17. field — farmland
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. field — for sport
  20. ball — a dance
  21. stock — shares
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. land — a country
  24. pit — in a race

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