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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: content · race · press · prune · stock · field · bound · pitcher

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. stock — goods
  4. field — for sport
  5. race — a contest
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. race — humankind
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. content — the amount
  10. bound — tied together
  11. content — happy
  12. press — a publisher
  13. race — the arms race
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. bound — certain
  16. bound — obliged
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. prune — to trim
  19. press — to push
  20. field — farmland
  21. prune — to trim
  22. press — newspapers
  23. field — a subject
  24. stock — shares

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