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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. field — for sport
  3. can — a tin
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. firm — decided
  6. court — of law
  7. field — farmland
  8. march — the month
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. court — for sport
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. can — to be able to
  13. firm — a company
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. can — a tin
  16. field — a subject
  17. face — to confront
  18. march — music
  19. firm — steady
  20. face — part of the head
  21. face — to point toward
  22. stock — goods
  23. march — the month
  24. court — of a king

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