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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: dip · snap · pitch · field · clip · stock · game · fork

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. clip — to cut
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. game — a match
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. field — farmland
  11. fork — in a road
  12. snap — to click
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. clip — for paper
  15. stock — shares
  16. field — for sport
  17. clip — a video
  18. pitch — completely
  19. field — a subject
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. dip — to sink
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. game — wild animals

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