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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 116 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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. bass — the fish
  3. field — for sport
  4. race — the arms race
  5. bore — to tire
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. field — farmland
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. race — humankind
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. band — a music group
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. row — to paddle
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. band — a ring
  17. bore — to drill
  18. last — finally
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. row — a line
  21. bass — low music
  22. race — a contest
  23. last — to go on
  24. field — a subject

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