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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 · tear · stock · cell · wake · ball · land · race

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. land — to come down
  3. field — a subject
  4. cell — a phone
  5. tear — from crying
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. tear — from crying
  8. wake — a trail
  9. stock — goods
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. ball — a dance
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. cell — in biology
  14. field — for sport
  15. stock — shares
  16. tear — to rip
  17. field — farmland
  18. race — humankind
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. land — ground
  21. ball — a great time
  22. land — a country
  23. race — the arms race
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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