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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: kid · field · cold · stock · season · march · vault · wave

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. field — a subject
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. cold — not warm
  5. field — for sport
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. season — in sport
  8. stock — goods
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. march — the month
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. field — farmland
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. cold — an illness
  17. march — the month
  18. kid — to tease
  19. kid — child
  20. vault — a safe
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. march — music
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. season — of the year

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