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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. race — a contest
  5. bound — certain
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. race — the arms race
  9. net — after costs
  10. field — for sport
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. race — humankind
  14. tube — a container
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. bound — tied together
  17. tube — the underground
  18. net — in sport
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. field — a subject
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. bound — obliged
  23. date — the fruit
  24. net — for catching

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