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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  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. squash — the vegetable
  2. fine — high quality
  3. squash — the sport
  4. court — of law
  5. field — a subject
  6. face — to point toward
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. club — for dancing
  9. face — to confront
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. fine — all right
  12. stock — shares
  13. face — part of the head
  14. club — a group
  15. field — farmland
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — moving air
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. club — for golf
  20. court — for sport
  21. stock — goods
  22. field — for sport
  23. squash — to crush
  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