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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. lie — to recline
  4. stock — goods
  5. wind — moving air
  6. field — a subject
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. wind — moving air
  9. field — for sport
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. can — a tin
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. fork — in a road
  18. field — farmland
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. mine — for digging
  21. can — to be able to
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. can — a tin

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