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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: race · court · stock · field · present · racket

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. present — a gift
  3. field — for sport
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. field — farmland
  6. race — a contest
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. stock — goods
  9. race — the arms race
  10. race — humankind
  11. court — of a king
  12. present — the time now
  13. court — for sport
  14. court — of law
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. present — there
  17. field — a subject
  18. racket — a loud noise

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