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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: mate · pit · content · stock · field · spell · cap · game

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. mate — to breed
  6. pit — in a race
  7. game — a match
  8. spell — magic
  9. mate — a friend
  10. pit — a hole
  11. cap — of ice
  12. game — wild animals
  13. field — for sport
  14. stock — goods
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. content — happy
  17. cap — a lid
  18. content — the amount
  19. spell — letters
  20. cap — a hat
  21. field — farmland
  22. field — a subject
  23. spell — a short time
  24. mate — a partner

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