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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: stock · race · field · sharp · foot · wake · leaves · chest

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. stock — shares
  3. race — the arms race
  4. field — farmland
  5. chest — of your body
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. stock — goods
  8. sharp — clever
  9. race — humankind
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. chest — of your body
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. chest — a box
  18. field — a subject
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. wake — a trail
  21. foot — a measure
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. race — a contest

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