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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. kid — child
  3. track — a song
  4. rest — what's left
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. ball — a dance
  8. race — the arms race
  9. ball — a great time
  10. track — a path
  11. kid — to tease
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — an injury
  14. race — humankind
  15. field — farmland
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. rest — what's left
  19. track — to keep track
  20. band — a ring
  21. field — a subject
  22. field — for sport
  23. band — a music group
  24. rest — a break

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