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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: chair · wake · field · lie · club · stock · drill · toast

  1. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. field — farmland
  3. stock — goods
  4. stock — shares
  5. lie — to recline
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. club — for golf
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. chair — a leader
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. club — for dancing
  18. drill — a practice
  19. toast — bread
  20. drill — the tool
  21. field — a subject
  22. drill — army training
  23. club — a group
  24. field — for sport

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