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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: stock · pitcher · cell · land · spell · row · pop · field

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. field — for sport
  4. field — farmland
  5. pop — soda
  6. pop — to visit
  7. row — to paddle
  8. land — to come down
  9. cell — in biology
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. land — ground
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. land — a country
  14. field — a subject
  15. stock — shares
  16. cell — a phone
  17. pop — music
  18. spell — magic
  19. spell — a short time
  20. row — a line
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. stock — goods
  24. row — a quarrel

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