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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. sharp — clever
  3. club — for golf
  4. land — a country
  5. stock — goods
  6. land — ground
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. root — of a plant
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. root — the cause
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. field — farmland
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. root — of a word
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. field — a subject
  20. field — for sport
  21. club — a group
  22. stock — shares
  23. club — for dancing
  24. land — to come down

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