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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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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 · stock · race · stick · degree · mate · field · land

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. land — ground
  3. field — for sport
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. stock — shares
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. degree — temperature
  8. land — to come down
  9. race — humankind
  10. degree — from a university
  11. cell — in biology
  12. cell — a phone
  13. land — a country
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. degree — an amount
  16. race — a contest
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. stock — goods
  19. mate — a partner
  20. race — the arms race
  21. field — farmland
  22. mate — a friend
  23. field — a subject
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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