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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: race · coach · scale · stem · field · clip · bat · club

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. field — for sport
  3. club — for golf
  4. bat — the animal
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. field — a subject
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. club — for dancing
  10. stem — to come from
  11. race — humankind
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. field — farmland
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. scale — size or range
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. race — a contest
  19. clip — a video
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. club — a group
  22. clip — to cut
  23. clip — for paper
  24. scale — in music

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