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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 120 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: field · staff · cell · row · race · hand

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. cell — a phone
  3. field — for sport
  4. race — humankind
  5. field — farmland
  6. row — a line
  7. race — a contest
  8. hand — help
  9. field — a subject
  10. staff — a stick
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. row — to paddle
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. staff — employees
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. hand — in cards
  17. cell — in biology
  18. staff — employees

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