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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 · mate · capital · bat · stock · chip · cell · stem

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. bat — the animal
  3. cell — a phone
  4. field — for sport
  5. field — a subject
  6. mate — a friend
  7. mate — to breed
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. field — farmland
  10. stock — goods
  11. mate — a partner
  12. capital — a city
  13. chip — for betting
  14. chip — to eat
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. cell — in biology
  23. stock — shares
  24. capital — money

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