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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: fine · cell · firm · field · saw · stock · shower · sharp

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. shower — to wash
  4. firm — decided
  5. saw — the tool
  6. cell — a phone
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. saw — the tool
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. field — a subject
  11. firm — a company
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. fine — high quality
  14. field — farmland
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. stock — goods
  18. shower — rain
  19. field — for sport
  20. stock — shares
  21. firm — steady
  22. cell — in biology
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. sharp — clever

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