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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: land · pitch · race · jam · field · stock · bass · hide

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. race — a contest
  5. land — ground
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. field — farmland
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. bass — the fish
  12. land — to come down
  13. pitch — completely
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. race — the arms race
  16. stock — goods
  17. stock — shares
  18. race — humankind
  19. field — a subject
  20. field — for sport
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. land — a country
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. hide — animal skin

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