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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: field · ball · deal · perch · cold · stock · jam · kid

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. stock — goods
  4. field — a subject
  5. cold — an illness
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. deal — to handle
  9. field — farmland
  10. field — for sport
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — not warm
  13. kid — to tease
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. kid — child
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. ball — a great time
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. perch — the fish
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. ball — a dance

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