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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: pound · stock · plane · race · field · squash · chest · kick

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. chest — a box
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. squash — the sport
  5. pound — a weight
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. squash — to crush
  8. plane — a tool
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. race — the arms race
  12. chest — of your body
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. field — farmland
  15. field — for sport
  16. stock — goods
  17. field — a subject
  18. stock — shares
  19. race — a contest
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. chest — of your body
  23. race — humankind
  24. kick — in football

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