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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.

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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: clip · racket · spell · race · dip · field · stock · court

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. race — a contest
  3. dip — to sink
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. spell — a short time
  6. clip — a video
  7. court — for sport
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. court — of law
  11. clip — to cut
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. stock — goods
  15. clip — for paper
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. spell — magic
  18. spell — letters
  19. race — the arms race
  20. stock — shares
  21. field — a subject
  22. court — of a king
  23. race — humankind
  24. field — farmland

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