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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. track — to keep track
  4. field — farmland
  5. swing — to play on
  6. stock — shares
  7. field — for sport
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. foot — a measure
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. track — a song
  12. stock — goods
  13. track — a path
  14. field — a subject
  15. bat — the animal
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. pitch — completely
  20. swing — in golf
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. swing — music
  24. stock — a soup base

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