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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: mate · field · hand · stock · race · scale · tube · bat

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. tube — a container
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. scale — size or range
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. hand — in cards
  8. mate — a partner
  9. scale — in music
  10. tube — the underground
  11. stock — goods
  12. race — a contest
  13. field — farmland
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. stock — shares
  17. field — for sport
  18. mate — a friend
  19. race — the arms race
  20. race — humankind
  21. field — a subject
  22. hand — help
  23. mate — to breed
  24. hand — part of the body

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