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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: field · date · ball · chest · stock · mouse · cabinet · march

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. field — for sport
  4. march — the month
  5. date — the fruit
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. march — the month
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — of your body
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. march — music
  15. chest — a box
  16. field — farmland
  17. stock — shares
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. ball — a dance
  22. ball — a great time
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. stock — goods

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