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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: field · stem · cold · charge · coach · net · stock · court

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. net — in sport
  4. field — for sport
  5. charge — in control
  6. net — for catching
  7. court — for sport
  8. cold — not warm
  9. stock — goods
  10. net — after costs
  11. stem — to come from
  12. field — farmland
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. cold — an illness
  15. court — of a king
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. court — of law
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. charge — electricity
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. charge — a price
  22. field — a subject
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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