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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: stock · fork · fall · kid · press · field

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. kid — child
  4. press — to push
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fork — in a road
  7. kid — to tease
  8. stock — shares
  9. fall — the season
  10. field — a subject
  11. field — for sport
  12. press — newspapers
  13. stock — goods
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. field — farmland
  17. press — a publisher
  18. fork — to eat with

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