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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. last — finally
  3. field — for sport
  4. field — a subject
  5. last — to go on
  6. march — music
  7. march — the month
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. race — the arms race
  12. rock — a stone
  13. march — the month
  14. pop — to visit
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. pop — music
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. wake — a trail
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. field — farmland
  21. race — a contest
  22. rock — music
  23. pop — soda
  24. race — humankind

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