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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: fall · dip · nail · field · hand · race · present · stock

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. field — for sport
  4. fall — the season
  5. stock — shares
  6. present — the time now
  7. fall — to drop
  8. hand — in cards
  9. fall — to drop
  10. dip — to sink
  11. race — a contest
  12. race — humankind
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. race — the arms race
  15. stock — goods
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. field — a subject
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. present — there
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. present — a gift
  23. field — farmland
  24. nail — for a hammer

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