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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: rest · ground · squash · stock · row · field · board · cell

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. row — to paddle
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. field — a subject
  6. rest — what's left
  7. board — a committee
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. field — farmland
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. ground — a position
  12. stock — goods
  13. ground — the earth
  14. cell — a phone
  15. field — for sport
  16. squash — to crush
  17. row — a line
  18. cell — in biology
  19. rest — what's left
  20. stock — shares
  21. squash — the sport
  22. board — to get on
  23. rest — a break
  24. cell — in a prison

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