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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 124 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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. ground — the earth
  3. field — for sport
  4. stock — goods
  5. cell — in biology
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. face — part of the head
  9. face — to confront
  10. ground — a position
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. prune — to trim
  15. ground — crushed
  16. scale — in music
  17. scale — size or range
  18. field — farmland
  19. field — a subject
  20. face — to point toward
  21. prune — to trim
  22. cell — a phone
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. stock — shares

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