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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 120 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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. field — for sport
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. race — a contest
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. land — ground
  8. spring — a coil
  9. land — a country
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. band — a music group
  12. kid — child
  13. field — a subject
  14. spring — the season
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. field — farmland
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. band — a ring
  20. race — humankind
  21. kick — in football
  22. spring — of water
  23. kid — to tease
  24. race — the arms race

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