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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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Word bank
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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: deal · field · squash · cell · stock · swing

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. stock — goods
  3. cell — a phone
  4. field — farmland
  5. field — for sport
  6. stock — shares
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. deal — to handle
  9. cell — in biology
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. field — a subject
  13. squash — the sport
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. squash — to crush
  16. swing — music
  17. swing — to play on
  18. swing — in golf

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