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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. net — after costs
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. content — happy
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. pop — to visit
  8. pop — soda
  9. field — farmland
  10. fine — high quality
  11. net — in sport
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. field — a subject
  14. fork — in a road
  15. pop — music
  16. fine — all right
  17. content — the amount
  18. stock — shares
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. net — for catching
  23. pitch — completely
  24. field — for sport

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