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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: cell · sharp · lean · season · degree · stock · patient · race

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. stock — shares
  3. degree — from a university
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. race — the arms race
  6. race — a contest
  7. degree — temperature
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. degree — an amount
  10. cell — in biology
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. cell — a phone
  14. lean — to bend
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. sharp — clever
  18. lean — thin
  19. race — humankind
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. season — in sport
  23. season — of the year
  24. stock — goods

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