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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: last · kick · stock · dip · field · rock · cell · file

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. cell — a phone
  3. stock — goods
  4. kick — in football
  5. file — a document
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. field — a subject
  8. field — farmland
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. stock — shares
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. field — for sport
  13. last — to go on
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. dip — to sink
  17. last — final
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. cell — in biology
  21. rock — a stone
  22. file — a line of people
  23. file — a tool
  24. last — finally

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