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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. field — for sport
  3. tear — from crying
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. ground — crushed
  6. land — to come down
  7. tear — to rip
  8. prune — to trim
  9. band — a music group
  10. ground — the earth
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. ground — a position
  13. sharp — clever
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. band — a ring
  16. field — farmland
  17. land — a country
  18. field — a subject
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. land — ground
  21. tear — from crying
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. prune — to trim
  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