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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. kick — in football
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. field — a subject
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. field — for sport
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. stock — shares
  9. clip — to cut
  10. rash — a series
  11. pound — a weight
  12. clip — for paper
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. clip — a video
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. squash — to crush
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. field — farmland
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. mine — for digging
  23. rash — hasty
  24. squash — the 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