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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: bound · bat · pop · last · field · stock · mate · ground

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. stock — goods
  3. ground — the earth
  4. pop — music
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bound — certain
  7. bound — tied together
  8. mate — a friend
  9. mate — to breed
  10. field — for sport
  11. last — to go on
  12. bat — the animal
  13. stock — shares
  14. mate — a partner
  15. last — final
  16. pop — soda
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. ground — a position
  19. field — farmland
  20. field — a subject
  21. last — finally
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. bound — obliged
  24. ground — crushed

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