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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: rash · degree · hand · stock · can · plane · field · cell

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. can — a tin
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. plane — a tool
  5. rash — hasty
  6. hand — help
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. stock — shares
  9. field — for sport
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. can — to be able to
  12. hand — in cards
  13. rash — a series
  14. degree — from a university
  15. field — farmland
  16. field — a subject
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. degree — temperature
  19. cell — in biology
  20. degree — an amount
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. stock — goods
  23. can — a tin
  24. plane — in geometry

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