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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: stock · field · rash · capital · season · cell · kid · tube

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. tube — the underground
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. cell — in biology
  5. cell — a phone
  6. rash — hasty
  7. stock — shares
  8. tube — a container
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. capital — money
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. field — farmland
  13. season — of the year
  14. kid — child
  15. capital — a city
  16. field — for sport
  17. field — a subject
  18. rash — a series
  19. stock — goods
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. season — in sport
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. capital — a big letter

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