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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
468
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: leaves · stock · staff · field · cold · cabinet · net · game

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. staff — a stick
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. net — for catching
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. cold — an illness
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. field — farmland
  10. stock — shares
  11. game — wild animals
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. field — a subject
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. net — in sport
  18. field — for sport
  19. cold — not warm
  20. staff — employees
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. staff — employees
  23. net — after costs
  24. stock — goods

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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